Fallen from Grace
by Jedi-Princess-Solo
Summary: AU: What if instead of Kyp saving Jaina from the dark side at Hapes, she ended up seducing him back to the dark side?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: George Lucas and Lucasfilms owns all rights to the characters, the galaxy far, far away and the Force… I just dabble in his playground.

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****Is it her fault or mine?  
The tempter or the tempted, who sins most? **

-Shakespeare's _Measure for Measure

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It had been many years since Kyp Durron last felt this exhausted.

It wasn't just physical, but mental and emotional, as well, perhaps even spiritual. His squadron was gone, all of his pilots dead save for Octa Ramis, who had returned to the Jedi base after making it clear she would not fly with him again. The past few months had been draining for the Jedi Order as a whole, but in the last week, things had gotten downright desolate.

A team of young Jedi Knights, several of them that he was fond of, had allowed themselves to be captured by the Yuuzhan Vong in order to get access to the voxyn cloning labs on the worldship over Myrkr. They had succeeded in their mission to destroy the voxyn queen and eliminate the cloning labs, a heroic deed which may have very well saved the entire Jedi Order, but it had come at a great price.

Less than half of the strike team had survived, and among the fallen was Anakin Solo, the Order's brightest star, along with his older brother Jacen, whom Kyp was less fond of.

Han and Leia Solo were distraught over the loss of their youngest child, but Leia was refusing to accept that Jacen was dead, claiming that she knew he was still alive. It pained Kyp to see the regal princess in such denial, but he supposed it was understandable, she had suffered too much too quickly, feeling the deaths of two of her children in one day must have been too much to bear.

And on top of that, her only daughter had begun to slide dangerously towards the dark side.

That was, perhaps, what unsettled him the most, for Jaina had always struck him as one of the most pragmatic of all the Jedi. As the granddaughter of Darth Vader, she was remarkably strong in the Force, like the rest of her family, but her real strength, in Kyp's opinion, had always had more to do with being Jaina than being a Jedi.

But he understood better than anyone what the loss of a brother could do, and with both Jacen and Anakin gone, it wasn't surprising that Jaina had fallen into despair.

"Let me know when you get a lock on her, Zero," he called to his astromech as the stars fell into place around them. He barely acknowledged the reply that scrolled across his console, though, as his thoughts began to wander to the startling events that had led him to undertake this risky mission.

He had, for some unexplainable reason, felt Jacen Solo's death through the Force, while he had not felt Anakin's. In fact, he had not even known that the youngest Solo was dead until he offered his condolences on the loss of their son to Han and Leia, only to realize too late that Han did not yet know about Jacen. While it was clear that Luke and Mara had felt Jacen's passing just as strongly as Kyp had, probably even more so given the closeness they shared with their nephew, they had both warned him off from breaking Leia out of her denial and he had agreed to their less-than-pleasant request.

After all, he'd caused the Skywalker family enough pain over the years, he certainly didn't want to add to it now, when Leia was in her darkest hour.

So when the Hapan officials approached them with the news that a Yuuzhan Vong frigate analog had been detected that was reportedly being piloted by none other than Lieutenant Jaina Solo and in need of an escort planetside, Kyp had volunteered his services.

Leia had been a bit skeptical, but she'd been aware of the fact that there was no one else on Hapes more capable of getting an enemy ship down than him, save for Luke Skywalker himself, but Luke and Mara were busy trying to find a ship of their own in order to meet with Lando Calrissian, who currently had young Ben in his care. While she would have undoubtedly felt better had it been Luke going up after her daughter, Leia couldn't ask him to delay going for Ben, especially not when she knew all too well the terror of losing a child, and so the former Chief-of-State had just asked Kyp to get Jaina back safely.

_And I will,_ Kyp vowed, lips pressed together in determination. _No matter what._

Because what he'd said to Leia had been true, whether it was a half-truth or not. Protecting Jaina was important to him because of the debt he owed her family, but there was more to it than that. Han's only daughter was a woman in her own right now, a woman that he had, results and his own justifications aside, intentionally wronged and mislead.

And while he didn't regret the destruction of that seedling worldship, Kyp could admit that he regretted using Jaina the way he had. The weeks that they had spent together preparing for Sernpidal had allowed a connection to grow between them, unnoticed and perhaps even unwanted, at least to some degree, and he felt something rather akin to shame for the pain he had caused her by lying to her the way he had.

His display console beeped as Zero alerted him to the presence of a ship in the distance, one that was unmistakably Yuuzhan Vong in origin. The rock-hard coral hull looked battered, as if it had flown through the very heart of a fierce space battle, and while he couldn't sense the ship itself, he could sense the tired, aching presences of the young Jedi aboard.

"What the kriff is that attached to it?" Kyp muttered, eyeing what looked like half of a mangled ship melted into the side of the frigate. The light on his console flashed with an answer from Zero-One, and he glanced down in surprise. "Huh," he grunted, in mild surprise. "Guess they ran into pirates on the way. It doesn't matter, let's go say hello, huh?"

Turning the nose of his X-wing in the frigate's direction, he reached out with the Force, directing his senses towards the Jedi aboard. A cloud of sadness hung around the Vong frigate, the space around it almost pulsing with the grief and pain of its occupants, and his mouth went a little dry as the full understanding of just what this group of Jedi, of children, must have suffered in order to achieve their goal of destroying the voxyn.

It had been a crazy, suicidal plan from the start, and once he had realized that the kids had not, as it had appeared, been captured against their will, Kyp had begun to wonder just when Luke lost his mind, because no sane man would send his niece and nephews, _his children_, into such a fate. But Luke had done just that, albeit warily and with endless anxiety, because he had known, just as Anakin and Jaina and, apparently, Jacen had, that there could be no victory, and no future, for the Jedi unless the voxyn were eliminated.

_Crazy, the whole lot of them,_ Kyp thought, half in disgust and half in awe. Whatever else he might have had to say about Luke Skywalker, no one could ever deny that the revered Jedi Master had nerves of steel- whenever he actually got around to doing anything, that was.

Those nerves of steel must have been genetic, because Leia certainly had them, and so did her children.

After all, any other pilot, even a Jedi, would have balked at the thought of flying an enemy ship with enemies on both sides, the Yuuzhan Vong pursuing and the Republic forces having no way to know that they were firing on an ally instead of an enemy, but Jaina had done just that, and after escaping a worldship crawling with Yuuzhan Vong aboard a stolen frigate at that.

Sometimes that girl never ceased to amaze him.

Of course, other times she never ceased to infuriate him, and it seemed that now was going to be one of those times.

"This is Lieutenant Jaina Solo of Rogue Squadron aboard the Yuuzhan Vong frigate _Trickster_," her familiar voice crackled over the comm-link, filling his cockpit and his Force-senses, her stormy presence now burning at the forefront of those aboard her ship. "This ship is under New Republic control. There are no Yuuzhan Vong aboard. Repeat, this is not an enemy ship. Hold your fire."

"Relax, _Trickster_," Kyp called back, imbuing his words with a gentle suggestion through the Force. "I'm here to see you safely down."

Even across the distance between them, he felt Jaina's shock at just who had come to her rescue, and then her anger spiked, iciness creeping into her voice. "Kyp Durron," she spat his name like it was acid. "You might as well turn right back around now. I wouldn't follow you out of an ocean if I was drowning."

Despite himself, Kyp grinned faintly, although he wasn't entirely sure why.

"Hear me out before you open fire," he implored wryly. "Your parents are on Hapes, in the refugee center. I told the princess I'd bring you back. Now, you _could _send me back to Leia empty-handed, but we all know what path a vindictive spirit might take you."

His dark humor clearly hadn't been appreciated.

"Don't use my parents in another one of your tricks," Jaina practically growled. "If they're even on Hapes at all."

Exasperated, Kyp rolled his eyes. "If you'd reach out with the Force, Jaina," he pointed out bluntly. "You'd know the answer to that for yourself."

There was a long moment of silence on the other end, and he could feel that Jaina was, begrudgingly, doing just that, but he bit back the smug comment that was on the tip of his tongue, deciding that right now probably wasn't the best time to be pressing her anger. The sense he was getting of her through the Force was unsettling at best, her once vibrant spirit had become hardened and bitter, a cold, merciless storm gathering within her.

He didn't have time to ponder that further, though, because Jaina sighed across the comm-link.

"Fine," she said, sounding like she'd rather be submitting herself to Yuuzhan Vong torture, again, rather than accepting help from him. "Lead us down, Durron, but I'm warning you, you try anything and I won't hesitate to blast you out of the sky."

That statement didn't sit well with the Jedi accompanying her, that much Kyp was certain of, but he shrugged it off, having heard worse over the years, including from her shortly after Sernpidal.

"Don't worry, Sticks," he replied, enjoying the way she bristled at his use of her Rogue Squadron call-sign. "Stick close to me and I'll watch your back."

"Yeah, well," Jaina shot back scathingly. "If you're sure you want me that close, Durron, you'd do well to watch your own back while you're watching mine."

Knowing full well that she wasn't joking, and that there was a good chance she was perfectly capable of carrying out such a veiled warning given her current state of mind, Kyp still smirked to himself. "That's not a problem," he assured her lightly. "I'm very good at watching my own back, as you've reminded me on more than one occasion."

"You certainly are," Jaina said bitterly.

Ignoring her remark, Kyp pulled his X-wing up alongside the frigate. "The Hapan officials know that we're coming down, but they can't guarantee that you won't be shot at if some of their pilots are startled at the sight of an enemy ship. Obviously, we can't fire back, so you'll just have to dodge the laser fire."

"Maybe the Force will bless me and you'll get hit by accident," Jaina hissed, and again he felt the unease from those with her aboard the frigate.

"Doubtful," Kyp responded dryly. "The Force seems to have taken a holiday as of late."

There was a slight pause, the animosity tangible.

"I hate you."

"Yeah, yeah," Kyp grunted as they started the journey back towards Hapes. "Like I've never heard that one before."

Despite his dismissive words, hearing that come from Jaina, of all people, did something strange to his stomach. It wasn't all that different from the feeling he'd had after she slapped him for Sernpidal, only now it was more intense, and it was tinged with some unnamed threat that stirred shadowy fears somewhere deep inside of him.

This, he was certain, was not going to be easy.


	2. Chapter 2

The water wasn't hot enough.

Even with the refresher unit's controls turned up as high as they would go, the pressure pounding against her shoulders and the temperature scalding, it wasn't enough. 

She needed it hotter, so that it could sear away all of the anger and grief, all of the pain. If the water was hot enough, maybe it would burn right through her skin and burn away everything inside of her until she could breathe again.

Closing her eyes, Jaina tilted her head back to let the cascading stream was over her face as cleansing rivulets of water sluiced down her back. The refresher unit around her was filled with steam so thick that she was practically choking on it, but she didn't care, nor did she care that her skin was in danger of starting to blister if it was exposed to such hot water for much longer.

Physical pain had become a blessing for her now, because it detracted from the aching emptiness inside of her, an emptiness that she knew would never, could never, be healed now that her brothers...

_Don't,_ she ordered herself sharply, slamming down her shields around the grief bubbling up within her, threatening to consume her entire being. _Don't think about it, don't feel it, don't feel anything... that's for the weak._

And Jaina Solo was anything but weak.

She had been fighting her entire life, really, against one enemy after another. Being the daughter of Princess Leia and the niece of Luke Skywalker had made her a valuable target, but the real danger had always come from those who desired to use the grandchildren of Darth Vader as their personal weapons.

The Yuuzhan Vong were like no enemy she had ever faced before, they wanted nothing more or less than the complete and utter domination of the galaxy and the extermination of her very way of life.

Since their arrival at the edge of the galaxy only a few years prior, they had decimated whole worlds, sacrificed billions of sentient beings to their 'gods', and slaughtered millions upon millions who had simply been in their way. Those who surrendered were enslaved, a fate worse than death in her eyes, and with each corner of space that the Yuuzhan Vong took, another piece of the galaxy was forever and irrevocably changed. 

She didn't even want to think about what they were doing to Coruscant.

The fall of the capitol had gone under the strike team's sensors until they emerged from hyperspace, intending to have to do some fancy flying in order to land an enemy ship on the New Republic's crown jewel, but they had emerged in the midst of a hopeless firefight, only to realize that Coruscant had fallen to the enemy.

And right there in the heart of the fight, as if they'd been waiting for her, had been the _Millennium Falcon_, her parents in the cockpit while her aunt and uncle took the gun-turrets, picking off skips one by one.

Sometimes she almost thought her father was Force-sensitive, and the battle over Coruscant had been one of those fleeting moments. Despite the fact that she was flying a bulky Yuuzhan Vong frigate, Han Solo had recognized the incredible piloting taking place and known, somehow, that it was his daughter. The little test maneuver he'd put her through had been all too simple, but no one else could have pulled it off, and that had clenched it for her parents.

A few seconds later, her mother's voice had ordered the Republic forces in the area to allow her frigate to escape.

It should have worried her that Leia had been the only one able to sense her, but it didn't. If she could conceal her presence so completely from her Uncle Luke, the strongest Jedi of all, and her Aunt Mara, who had been her Jedi Master, then perhaps her own powers were growing stronger. With Jacen and Anakin, the three of them had always been stronger together, a triad, but now they were gone and she was left alone, maybe they had left behind some of their strength for her to use.

And she would use it to drive a spike right through the very heart of the Yuuzhan Vong empire.

_Do you wish to avenge your brothers?_

Ta'a Chume's words came back to her now, and Jaina's grim determination strengthened. Anakin had been murdered, she had felt his death through the Force, like a vibroblade right into the very heart of her soul. She had not felt Jacen's passing, despite the fact that he was her twin, but she supposed that was to be expected, she'd shut him out after losing Anakin, furious beyond words with him for leaving their little brother to the Yuuzhan Vong.

If Jacen had lived, she would have gone back for him, and she would have slaughtered anyone who got in her way.

And then they would have settled things between them, one way or another, because she could not forget that he had abandoned Anakin to die alone. Once or twice, she had even caught herself on the verge of thinking that Jacen had deserved his fate, and she had been properly ashamed for it, but that did nothing to abate the anger still coursing through her veins, so she would simply have to turn that anger on the Yuuzhan Vong.

_For you, Anakin, and for Jacen,_ she thought fiercely.

She would make the Yuuzhan Vong pay for what they had taken from her family, from the Jedi, and if it was the last thing she ever did, she would teach them the meaning of the word fear.

Tsavong Lah would have to be the first to go.

The warmaster had nearly bled her mother to death on Duro, had sought Jacen's blood ever since, and had been the one to declare Anakin 'expendable' because he was not a twin. Before this war was over, Jaina would see her lightsaber driven through his throat.

Turning off the water, she sighed, stepping out of the refresher unit and wrapping an absorbent cloth that had been laid out for her use around her body, letting her dark hair fall wet over her bare shoulders. 

Jaina moved over to the reflector, giving herself a brief, appraising glance.

It was funny, but she didn't really look any different than she had before Myrkr. A little thinner, perhaps, a little more exhausted, her eyes dimmer and her mouth drawn, but other than that she was the same Jaina she'd always been.

Strange, somehow she had expected some kind of monumental physical change to express the galaxy-shattering shift inside of her. Outwardly, there was no drastic scar, no gaping wound, nothing to elude to the fathomless backhole that had opened up within her chest. A stranger passing her on the street would look at her, and have no idea that she had just lost the other two parts of her soul, and that seemed wrong to her somehow.

Anakin and Jacen were both dead, how was it possible that the galaxy had not stopped turning? How was it that the stars had not all burned out, that planets hadn't fallen out of their orbits?

How could the rest of the galaxy possibly not realize what a devastating blow it had been dealt?

She caught sight of a shimmer in her reflection's eyes, and turned away from the reflector violently, her breath coming in quick, sharp gasps as she slammed her shields down around herself, burying the emotion surging within her under a mountain of durasteel, locking it behind wall upon wall until she felt the cool blankness descend over her once more.

_Don't feel,_ she reminded herself sharply, and spared a quick glance back at the reflector again before nodding in crisp satisfaction.

Padding barefoot out into the bedroom, her eyes immediately focusing on the comm-unit along the far wall, where a red light was flashing, signaling that she had received a message while she was in the refresher, and she wasn't at all surprised to find that it was from Ta'a Chume.

_My personal hairstylist, Ma'daia, will be attending to you shortly._

Jaina pressed her lips together in exasperation, uncertain which was more irritating, that Ta'a Chume felt she needed help with her hair, or that the woman wasn't going to take no for an answer. For whatever hidden reason, she was determined to get Jaina to attend this banquet, and she was more than prepared to pull out all of the stops to ensure her presence.

The former queen was clearly up to something, that much was obvious even without the Force, but as to what, Jaina was not yet certain

Or perhaps she simply didn't care.

As it was, Ta'a Chume would prove useful to her, a source of weapons, ships and ammunition to use in her fight against the Yuuzhan Vong, and that was all that mattered. Whatever the old woman was planning, as long as it didn't get in the way of Jaina's own plans, she would humor her for now, allowing Ta'a Chume to aide her in her quest for vengeance.

And in order to do that, she would have to attend this banquet.

Eyeing the scandalous red dress hanging on the stand in the corner of the room, Jaina snorted softly, shaking her head. Her jaw had nearly dropped when one of Ta'a Chume's servants had brought the gown to her room, and she'd been tempted to ask if the former queen had gone space-happy, but she had to admit that it was an intriguing way to begin achieving her objectives.

_Beauty is a tool to be used,_ Ta'a Chume had claimed.

Perhaps she was right.

Regardless, this banquet would be helpful in making friends in high places among the Hapan military, which could prove beneficial, so the smart thing to do would be to attend, put on a fake smile, bat her eyelashes and move about the room with the diplomatic grace that her mother had tried so hard to instill in her.

Thoughts of her mother made Jaina wince slightly, recalling the sad eyes that had watched her as she left her parents at the landing field, leaving them and Anakin's sheet-covered body behind her. As soon as she had gotten away from their sight, she had burst into a flat-out run, her desperation to get away suddenly overwhelming, but even then she had been unable to escape.

The scars the Yuuzhan Vong had inflicted upon her would stay with her the rest of her life.

And, likewise, she knew that her mother would never fully recover from the loss of her sons, especially not once she got over her denial of Jacen's demise. The woman that Jaina admired most in the galaxy, whose strength and spirit seemed more immortal than any government or Order or cause, had been broken, and that made her hate the Yuuzhan Vong even more. 

Hadn't her family suffered and bleed for this galaxy enough? 

Chewie was dead, Mara had barely defeated the Yuuzhan Vong disease that had nearly claimed not only her life but the life of her unborn child while she had been pregnant with Ben, they had lost dear friends and allies, and now, in one day, they had lost both Jacen and Anakin both.

If it was the last thing she ever did, Jaina was going to see to it that every single Yuuzhan Vong in existence understood the kind of heart-wrenching, unbearable pain that they had inflicted on her, the kind of pain that you couldn't go on with, that made you desperate for release that was always just beyond the reach of your fingertips.

Then, and only then, she could join her brothers.

Until that day, she would have to find the strength to keep going, to keep fighting, in order to make their deaths count for something.

For now, she just had to find a way to survive this wretched banquet.

_At least Tenel Ka will be there,_ she thought, but that was less reassuring than it once would have been. Things with the Hapan princess were difficult at the present, partly because of things that had been said at Myrkr, and partly due to the uncomfortable knowledge of their shared loss over Jacen's death.

Not to mention the fact that Tenel Ka had been less than pleased with Jaina's recent methods of dealing with the Yuuzhan Vong.

That was of little concern, though, and honestly it was to be expected. Most of the Jedi wouldn't approve, her family included, but Jaina found she no longer cared. Light and dark were distinctions she didn't have time for anymore, Jedi conceptions that had outlived their purpose.

The Yuuzhan Vong didn't exist inside of the Force, so the normal rules didn't apply to them.

And if her Uncle Luke couldn't see that, well...

_It's like Kyp said,_ she mused grimly. _His war was with the Empire. This is our war, and it's up to us to find a way to win it._

Realizing what she had just thought, Jaina groaned, wondering how best to kill Kyp Durron.

Bad enough that she'd needed him to escort her frigate down to Hapes safely, and that she'd had to put up with his arrogant, pompous attitude the whole way down, but now she was quoting him, and for the second time in one day at that?

_You need help, Jaya,_ she could almost hear Anakin snickering just behind her shoulder.

_Maybe I do, Ani,_ Jaina agreed bitterly. _Maybe I do._

But when she got through with them, the Yuuzhan Vong were going to need it a hell of a lot more.


	3. Chapter 3

It was quiet aboard the _Millennium Falcon_.

Too quiet. 

In years past, the ship had been filled with noise and commotion, laughter and tears. The former smuggling vessel had become a second, more mobile, home for his family, compartments once used to store illegal cargo had been modified to serve as hiding spaces for the kids in case of an emergency. The cabins had been refurnished as comfortable bedrooms so that they would feel at home whenever they were confined the ship on long journeys, and the food-prep machine reprogrammed with Leia, Luke and children's tastes in mind.

This ship had been the backdrop for some of the most important and pivotal moments of his life, but it had also held so many simple, peaceful joys that were now lost to him forever.

Once, the sound of lightsabers humming in the hold where training remotes were providing a chance to get in some sword practice, or the chuckling roar of victory coming from the dejarik table would have carried into the cockpit. Leia would have been seated in the corner, murmuring to herself as she made notes on the datapad containing her next speech, Luke would have been meditating with his eyes closed in his chair, Jacen would have been reading a bookchip or staring off at space blankly, deep in thought, while Jaina and Anakin would have found something to take apart and rebuild, much to Chewie's chagrin.

In the early days, the air would have been filled with giggling voices as Threepio droned on and on with some story, most likely _The Little Lost Bantha Cub_, which had been recited so many times that Han still, to this day, knew every word of it by heart.

Maybe he'd get around to telling that story to his nephew Ben one day, and save the boy from Threepio.

Sighing, Han shook his head, wondering what he had ever done to deserve being stuck with that insufferable protocol droid. If he had to take a guess, though, he would blame it on Darth Vader, it would be right up his Sith father-in-law to find a way to torment him from the afterlife, redeemed Jedi in the end or not.

"You like Threepio and you know it," Leia accused from the oversized copilot's chair where she was curled up, her knees to her chest, and staring out the viewport at nothing in particular, her gaze distant and haunted with things that Han recognized all too well.

"You'll never get me to admit it," he shot back, mustering up a smile, for her sake, even if she wasn't looking.

They slipped back into the melancholy silence that had fallen over them, and Han stared down at the dimmed display console in front of him. In a while, they would be moving to the refugee camp, but for now neither of them was ready to leave the _Falcon_. It was almost as if her battered, but sturdy walls were keeping them within a protective bubble, a final safe haven in a galaxy that had suddenly become as cold as durasteel.

A part of Han was eager to get out, to stretch his legs and breathe fresh air, but he knew Leia wasn't ready yet, and he was going to stand by her side through every minute of their shared ordeal. He wouldn't fail her again, not the way he had after Chewie... 

Besides, if he was honest with himself, the real reason he wanted off the Falcon had nothing to do with being cooped up too long and everything to do with needing to escape the smothering memories. Every corner held a different story that he couldn't forget, because over the years his family had probably spent more time aboard this ship than at their Coruscant apartment.

And now his beloved ship felt empty, a thick shroud of loneliness hanging in the air. 

Sometimes he half-thought he heard the echo of little feet scurrying across the deckplates, or the familiar grunts of an agitated Wookiee hard at work trying to make the hyperdrive work correctly.

But it was always just his imagination.

Chewie was dead, he'd given his life to save Anakin on Sernpidal, and now his sacrifice had been for nothing, because Anakin had been taken from them just the same.

_No, not for nothing,_ Han decided grimly. Chewie had given them all a gift more precious than words could ever say. He'd given them two more years with Anakin, and that somehow made what Chewie had done for them even more heroic. 

If only he had known that he was going to lose not only his youngest child, but his oldest boy, as well.

For all of Leia's insistence that Jacen was alive, and as desperately as he wanted to believe her, Han knew that both of their sons were gone forever. Whatever it was that the Jedi had felt from Jacen through the Force, Leia was in denial about it, it hadn't been just a dimming, it really had been a goodbye, and Han knew it.

He'd seen it in his brother-in-law's haunted expression, in Mara's quivering lips, in Kyp's subdued sadness.

But he hadn't really believed it until he saw it in Jaina's eyes.

His little girl had never seemed more fragile than she had in that moment, with her younger brother's body laying on a repulsorsled just feet behind her and her twin nowhere to be found. Suddenly he had been aware of just how young she really was, of how much of her childhood, her innocence, had been stolen from her.

And now her brothers had been taken, as well.

In that moment, it had felt like someone had taken a vibrohammer right to Han's heart, and the ache had spread so completely throughout his entire body that he didn't see how he could ever recover.

Jacen, his oldest boy, the child he never quite understood. While his sister and brother were always running around, their laughter echoing around them as they splashed in the water and run circles around Chewie in the open fields, Jacen had preferred to sit and stare off into the distance. For a time, Han had been worried, fearing his son was just lazy, but Leia had ensured him that wasn't the case, that Jacen was pondering things the rest of them couldn't even begin to fathom. As his boy grew older, Han had seen it, too, that wisdom that seemed out of place for one so young, but somehow it had suited Jacen.

_I shouldn't have given him such a hard time about things,_ he thought morosely. _I should have tried harder to understand where he was coming from._

Just like he should have tried harder to make sure Anakin knew that he didn't blame him for Sernpidal. 

His youngest child, his baby, had been faced with a terrible choice that day, and his decision only proved that Anakin had been a true Jedi Knight. As much as Anakin had loved Chewie, as much as it had nearly killed him to leave the beloved Wookiee behind, he had done what he had to in order to save the lives of an entire shipload of people.

And Han had blamed him for it.

How many months had he wasted, cutting himself off from Leia and the kids... months he should have been spending hugging his children every time they came home, because in war you never knew when your last gruff goodbye would be it, when that silent stare across a hangar would be the last time you ever saw them again...

His boys were dead. 

It wasn't right, it wasn't fair. They were just children, no matter how mature or strong they may have seemed to the rest of the galaxy, they were still just children.

His children.

And now they were gone.

Losing Chewbacca had been a terrible blow, and Han had not believed that he could ever feel that much hurt ever again, but he had been wrong. His sons had fallen on some distant worldship, an entire galaxy away, and he had been helpless to do anything about it.

He had been opposed to the mission from the start, the odds had been enormous and the danger worse than anything he could have imagined. Bad enough to have his children fighting in a war where everyone around them was being cut down, but to send them right into the very heart of enemy territory? Worse still, to hand them over to the Yuuzhan Vong's merciless clutches, all for the sake of a fleeting, dismal chance at destroying the voxyn?

Luke had called for a vote, though, and Anakin had looked at him, with those eyes that were so like Luke's, eyes that had come from the man behind Darth Vader's mask, and told him to do what his heart told him was right.

And shavit, he hadn't been able to do anything else.

From the moment the kids and their strike team had left, Han had been on edge, a terrible churning in his gut telling him that this would not go as smoothly as Anakin had tried to assure him it would. Even without the Force, he'd known what was awaiting his children on their crazy, Force-damned mission, but some part of him had convinced himself that it would all work out in the end somehow. They were as much Skywalker as they were Solo, and if there was one thing that Skywalker blood was good for, it was pulling a death-defying last minute escape out of thin air, and doing it with style. He'd seen his kids do it hundreds of times, even before the start of the war, and he'd been certain they could it again.

Only the Force had other plans for his boys.

"There was nothing you could have done."

"There had to have been," Han muttered, unable to bring himself to look at her, his eyes stinging with tears he had to fight to keep at bay. "There had to have been something..." he trailed off, voice close to breaking, and closed his eyes, his head falling into his hands.

"Anakin was a Jedi," Leia whispered. "He died doing what Jedi do."

For the first time in his life, Han wished he had never heard of the Force, because all it seemed to bring his family was pain and suffering. But almost as soon as he thought it, the anger faded away, and Han knew he could never have really wished such a thing anyway. The Force had blessed him with everything he had, it had given him such beautiful, beautiful children with such incredible gifts... and he was proud of them, all three of them, for all the good they had done, for all that they stood for and fought for as Jedi Knights.

Sometimes he just wondered why it always had to be _his_ Jedi that were at the center of everything.

"We should be proud of him," Leia said, drawing a shuddering breath. "He may have saved us all at Myrkr..."

"I am proud of him," Han rasped, lifting his head. "I just wish I'd told him that." 

"He knew," Leia assured him softly.

It hadn't escaped his notice that she was speaking only of Anakin, not Jacen, and Han made a silent vow to let her keep her illusions for now, to let her come to terms with the truth in her own time. He could not, would not, put that hurt on her shoulders, by trying to make her accept it.

And a small part of him felt that as long as Leia, at least, believed, then there was still a chance, still a thread of hope...

He knew better than to cling to such impossible dreams, though, and he needed to focus on the family that he still had left, a family which had been broken into a thousand tiny pieces after Myrkr.

But how could they possibly overcome this, how could they possibly ever heal from this blow?

Jacen and Anakin were dead, Leia was alternating between denial on Jacen's fate and sinking into the suffocating grief of their youngest's death, Mara and Luke were blaming themselves, and Jaina was pushing them all away, cutting herself off from everyone and everything in an attempt to numb the pain.

The pain of losing their sons was incomprehensible, it was a struggle for Han and Leia to just get through the little things, like breathing, but they still had Jaina, they still had one child to anchor themselves to, a child for which they had to find a way to pick themselves up again.

If they lost Jaina, too, though, he knew they would not be able to go on. 

He suddenly had the most desperate urge to gather her up in his arms and never let her go, to steal her away aboard the _Falcon _and take her somewhere far away from war and fighting and death, to someplace where nothing could ever touch her again.

But there was no safe haven, no hidden world where he could shelter the shattered remains of his family from the rest of the galaxy.

And if he couldn't protect his sons, what made him think he could do a better job with Jaina?

Han felt so old all of the sudden, as if all the years of living on the edge had finally caught up with him. He'd never been afraid of death, Force knew he'd played tag with it enough during his younger days. He'd always known sooner or later it would come to collect.

He'd just never expected it to take his children.

"We have company," Leia's quiet murmur jolted him out of his reverie, and he glanced over at her expecting to find her straightening in her seat, slipping on the composed mask. The fact that she wasn't even bothering, her chin still resting on her knees, told him that either their visitor was someone that she knew well enough that she didn't feel the need to put on airs with, or it was someone that she didn't think was worth the effort.

A few moments later, when Kyp Durron appeared in the doorway of the cockpit, Han decided it could go either way. 

"Hi, kid," he said, favoring the young Jedi Master with a weak smile of greeting. "How's it going?"

"I should be asking you that," Kyp pointed out wearily, eyeing them both with a sympathetic, concerned expression that Han had seen too many times already for his tastes.

"Ah, don't worry about us," Han insisted, reaching over to take Leia's hand and give it a squeeze. "We're a tough old pair, aren't we, sweetheart?"

"Well, you certainly have the old part down," Kyp agreed, taking his cue from Han's own attempt at making lighthearted conversation. "But I'd have to argue that point in Leia's case. She could pass for Jaina's sister, rather than her mother."

"Untrue," Leia murmured, a ghost of a smile gracing her lips as she finally lifted her head to look up at him. "But thank you just the same, Kyp. And thank you for escorting Jaina down safely this morning."

"Yeah, well," Kyp shifted ruefully. "Like I said, I owe your family."

"Hmmm," Leia mused, then raised an eyebrow. "Luke sent you?"

Han blinked, but Kyp didn't look at all startled at Leia's intuition, so he supposed it must have been one of those Jedi things.

"Master Skywalker wanted me to let you know that he'd taken care of everything for the funeral," Kyp said quietly, gentle reverence evident in his voice, even to Han. "Anakin will be given every honor the Jedi can give our fallen. He'll be well-remembered here tonight, and long after."

"Tell Luke that we appreciate that," Han replied, swallowing past the lump in his throat.

And he meant that, with more gratitude for his brother-in-law than he could express in mere words. There was no way that either he or Leia would have been in any shape to plan the ceremony themselves, but, of course, Luke had known that.

"Do you want me to contact Jaina at the palace?" Kyp asked hesitantly. "Or would you prefer to let her know about the funeral yourselves?"

"I don't think there's much point in wasting the comm-call, to be honest, kid," Han sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. "Jaina's made it pretty clear she's not attending this funeral or any other, and you know how she is when she sets her mind to something. Stubborn, like her mother."

"A trait which you've never displayed," Leia accused faintly.

Han opened his mouth to feign innocence, but never got the chance.

"You're saying that Jaina's just decided she's going to miss her brother's funeral?" Kyp demanded incredulously, emerald eyes sharp with something angry and dangerous. "And you're going to let her?" 

"What do you want me to do, kid?" Han retorted wearily. "March into the palace and force her there at blaster-point?"

"Yes, if necessary!" Kyp cried, and despite himself, Han chuckled at the idea.

"Wouldn't do any good, not with my daughter," he told the younger man knowingly, then grew somber at the angry set of Kyp's jaw. "Look, I know it seems crazy, it doesn't feel right to me, either, but we can't force her to go if she doesn't want to. Shavit, look at how I acted after Chewie..."

"All the more reason not to let her miss this," Kyp insisted. "If she doesn't attend Anakin's funeral, she's going to regret it for the rest of her life!" 

"Probably," Han agreed with a sigh. "But what are you going to do?"

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do," Kyp snapped. "I'm going to drag her there kicking and screaming if I have to, and I'll use the Force to knock her unconscious if necessary!"

Han would have laughed, but he wasn't so sure Kyp wasn't serious.

"Don't worry," Kyp said, jaw clenched in determination. "Jaina will be at that funeral, one way or another."

And with that, he whirled on his heel, stalking away with his cape billowing out behind him, and Han watched him go, shaking his head. "That kid has no vaping clue what he's getting himself into," he declared. 

"No," Leia agreed, as she, too, watched Kyp leave with an unreadable, but profoundly sad, expression in her dark eyes. "I'm afraid he doesn't."

There was something in her voice that caught his attention, something he couldn't really understand, but it frightened him.

"Leia?" he asked tentatively. "What is it?"

Their eyes met, and Han felt as if he was drowning in the pain her saw there.

Was this what it was like to be a Jedi, he wondered suddenly? To look into someone's eyes and not just see their pain, but feel it? And feel it with every fiber of his being?

"Could you just hold me?" she asked softly, and he recalled a similar request, spoken on a treetop platform on Endor, just after Luke had gone to surrender himself to Darth Vader.

"Yeah, Your Worshipfulness," Han rasped, easing himself into Chewie's giant chair beside her and wrapping an arm around his wife so that she could lean into his chest, her small body easily enveloped by his embrace. "I can do that."


	4. Chapter 4

"I hate you, you know."

"Yeah, I kind of got that after the first five times you said it," he shot back, and she scowled, turning to stare out at the blurred landscape around them as their landspeeder wound its way through the public forest.

Sighing, Kyp Durron shook his head to himself, maneuvering the speeder over the narrow paths that wound their way up the side of the mountain, and wondered if anything was worth this kind of hassle. It was as if Jaina was trying to see if she could push him far enough to make him shove her out of the landspeeder, and in truth, he'd considered the idea briefly once or twice already on their short journey.

_You knew it wouldn't be easy,_ he reminded himself, jaw tightening. _But at least you didn't have to resort to violence to get her here._

He would have, though, if she'd given him no other choice. Allowing Jaina to miss her brother's funeral was not something that he could accept, not when he knew firsthand the anguish of losing a brother. Not a single day went by that he didn't miss Zeth, that he didn't feel responsible for his death, and that he didn't wish there could have been some sort of funeral for him.

Kyp refused to let Jaina live with that same kind of regret.

He just wished there was something he could do to help ease her suffering, and she was suffering terribly, he could sense it, despite the impressive shields she had constructed around herself to numb the pain.

It had nearly caused him to stumble upon coming across her with all of her defenses down, the durasteel walls around her heart lowered for a brief, flickering moment as she stood in the palace, gazing up at the night sky overhead, her presence reaching out towards the stars, as if calling for those who would never again answer.

His presence hadn't gone undetected for long, though, and her shields had slammed down so tightly that it had been as if someone had turned off a brilliant sun.

Needless to say, Jaina had not been at all pleased to see him, and even less so once the meaning of his arrival became clear. His own carefully controlled anger had been insignificant next to the blazing fury that surged within the small Jedi princess, and he had been a little wary to realize that if she had been armed at that moment, she might very well have attacked him.

The idea had certainly occurred to her, and as unsettling as that was, it had been that very thing that resigned her to coming with him in the end.

Sparing Jaina a glance, Kyp couldn't help but admire the way the sand-colored Jedi robes, identical to his own, seemed like second skin on her. They were much looser than the clinging scarlet gown she had been wearing when he found her in the palace, a gown he had to admit he wouldn't have minded seeing her in again, but somehow they suited her.

He told himself it had absolutely nothing to do with the twinge of satisfaction he felt as seeing her wearing his robes.

_She's Mara's apprentice, remember?_ he reminded himself with a wry chuckle. _And Mara Jade Skywalker has made it perfectly clear she doesn't appreciate anyone moving in on her apprentice._

Of course, that wasn't enough to deter him, really. Mara Jade Skywalker may have been intimidating to most, but after his experiences with the spirit of Exar Kun, Kyp found it very rare that anyone, Master Skywalker included, was able to intimidate him.

There was just something about Sith Lords that made everyone else, even Mara, seem almost amicable in comparison.

The blur of trees around them began to thin, giving way to scrub, and Kyp felt Jaina tense beside him as the twin moons overhead cast a pale glow across the somber congregation of Jedi gathered among the rock formations that crowned the silent mountain, surrounded by a hundred lit torches whose flames flickered and danced in the evening air.

Pulling up a respectful distance from the pyre, Kyp brought the landspeeder to a halt, and Jaina was off before he'd even come to a full stop, clearly eager to get as far away from him as possible, lest people think that she was actually playing the part of the dutiful little apprentice.

Jaina, too, it seemed, had noticed the implications of their matching robes.

Chuckling to himself, Kyp climbed out of the speeder and followed at a relaxed pace, taking in the good-sized crowd that had come to pay their respects to the fallen Jedi Knight. Still dressed in her elaborate gown from the banquet, Tenel Ka stood out among the rest of the survivors from the Myrkr strike team, but her solemn composure more than made up for it. Lowbacca, Ganner Rhysode, Tesar Sebatyne, Tekli and Alema Rar stood together, as if drawing strength from one another, and Kyp had little doubt that the bonds forged during the hellish mission to Myrkr would not dwindle after this... who else could understand the horrors they had suffered, but those who had experienced it alongside them? 

Tahiri Veila, however, stood with Han and Leia Solo, a distant, empty expression on her face, and it tugged at Kyp's heart to feel the floating loneliness inside of her. Without Anakin, she was lost, floundering, and there didn't seem to be anything that anyone could do to help her find her center again.

And as for the final survivor of Myrkr...

Kyp followed Jaina's gaze to the high, flat stone in the midst of a ring of torches, and his chest tightened with sorrow and regret.

The youngest Solo had been laid, with great care and reverence, across the stone, most likely by Luke Skywalker, and it could not have been an easy task for the esteemed Jedi Master. Kyp had lost an apprentice during this war, himself, but Anakin had been more than just an apprentice to Luke, and there was pain the likes of which Kyp had never seen before in Master Skywalker's eyes tonight.

From his place between his sister and Mara, Luke's sad blue eyes swept over the crowd gathered, as if looking for something or someone, and finally came to rest on Jaina, who failed to notice, unable to tear her gaze away from the lifeless body of her younger brother. At the sight of his niece, the tension in Luke's shoulders eased some, and he gave Kyp a small nod of gratitude, which Kyp merely met with a nod of his own.

Now that Jaina was here, and Kyp was certain that Luke had been waiting for her arrival, the funeral could begin.

It was Tahiri who came forward first, moving into the circle of torches like a floating wraith, barefoot as always, a heavy shroud of grief enveloping her every step.

"Anakin saved my life," she said simply, eyes piercing through the flames to trace the features of the boy she loved, a profound and deep sadness visible on her face. "The Yuuzhan Vong locked my body in a cage and tried to do the same thing to my mind. Anakin came to Yavin Four, alone, and brought me out." 

So deep was the longing inside of her as she fell silent, that it took Leia's hand on the girl's shoulder to shake her out of it, and Tahiri looked back at Anakin's mother helplessly, the scars on her forehead clear in the moonlight, making her look even smaller than usual. She must have seen something in Leia's eyes to give her strength, because she sighed, allowing Leia to guide her away from the pyre.

A few seconds passed, and then a young refugee boy stepped forward hesitantly, biting his lip.

Through the Force, Kyp felt Jaina's heart shatter, and he sent a whisper of his own strength into her, hoping she would take it, but her shields were so firmly in place that it didn't make any difference, and he wondered if she had even felt his effort.

"Anakin Solo saved my life," Tarc echoed Tahiri's sentiments. "I never met Anakin, but people tell me I look like him. I don't know why the lady on Coruscant wanted me to look like this. She promised that my mother and sisters would be safe if I let them change my face." 

A flicker of Jaina's horrified outrage touched his senses, she was clearly just as confused by the boy's appearance as she was distraught over it.

"I don't know why," Tarc finished tentatively. "All I know is looking like Anakin saved my life. Maybe it saved my family, too."

As the boy resumed his place among the crowd, Kyp leaned closer to Jaina. "Viqi Shesh," he murmured for her benefit, and her heartbroken anguish sharpened itself into steely determination, fueled by a cool anger that wouldn't be easily forgotten. "Han told me about it." 

Right on cue, Han took Tarc's place, and Kyp's heart went out to his old friend, who suddenly looked older now than Kyp could ever recall him appearing to be.

"Anakin saved my life," Han said hoarsely, eyes tired and haunted. "Mine, and a whole shipload of people I would have let burn into starfood. He made the hard decision at Sernpidal, the right decision." He closed his eyes for a moment, as if to block out Chewie and Anakin's deaths, then opened them again, letting out a shuddering breath. "I hope he knows that."

Beside him, Kyp felt Jaina's shields falter for a moment, but she avoided looking at her father as Han sought out Leia, wrapping an arm around his wife's slender shoulders and leaning into her, the two grieving parents taking comfort in one another, while Jaina seemed to withdraw even further into herself. 

He had been hoping that she would speak, that she might be moved to share her own memories of Anakin or his heroic actions at Myrkr, because it would help with the grieving process, but it was clear now that wasn't going to happen.

Jaina was keeping herself as detached as possible from her pain, and that wasn't a good thing, but he supposed she was entitled to finding her own way through this ordeal. Besides, there wasn't really much he could do for her right now, if she didn't want to take that first step towards healing, he wasn't going to push her.

For now, he would just do what little he could.

Moving forward to take his place amidst the glowing torches, Kyp ignored Jaina's incredulous stare, folding his hands behind his back calmly and waited a heartbeat or two for the right words to come to mind.

"I knew Anakin mostly through reputation," he began quietly. "But I suspect that someday I will be able to stand before a solemn assembly and tell how this young Jedi changed, even saved, my life." He paused for a moment, a faint and distant stirring in the Force whispering around him. "The deeds of heroes send ripples spreading through the Force. Anakin's life continues to flow outward, touching and guiding those who have yet to hear his name."

Han and Leia were watching him with tears in their eyes, but he could sense their gratitude, and how much his words meant to them. Mara had lowered her head, letting the words wash over her, but Luke alone seemed to see right through Kyp, as if he, too, could feel the faraway echo of those ripples, and had some impossible knowledge of what those ripples might accomplish.

"Most of us here use the Force," Kyp concluded, turning his gaze to Anakin's form with a reverent sigh. "This young man embodied it."

Leia smiled faintly through her tears, and several of the Jedi gathered nodded their agreement, murmuring softly as Kyp reclaimed his place beside Jaina, who was pointedly not looking at him, but he could sense her wonder and amazement, and he knew that he had spoken the very words she needed someone to say on her behalf.

If any of what he'd said helped Jaina come to terms with Anakin's death, then he'd done what he hoped to do.

A handful of other Jedi came forward, speaking softly of their own experiences with Anakin, how he had saved their lives during this war, how he had been a beacon during the dark times that had befallen the galaxy, how he had been a role-model, but more importantly a friend. All of the surviving strike team members spoke, including Ganner Rhysode who recalled how Anakin had pushed onward to destroy the voxyn, and their success laid solely at the fallen Jedi's feet.

After Ganner finished, there was an uncomfortable moment where Zekk and the others looked to Jaina expectantly, but Mara, sensing that Jaina was not prepared for such a task, took pity on her niece and moved into the circle of light herself, drawing the attention of those gathered away from Jaina.

"Anakin saved my life at Dantooine," Mara said with a weak smile. "But what he really did for me there was something even greater He saved me from the despair my illness had created, he gave me hope again. He renewed my faith in myself, and in the Force." She chuckled softly, shaking her head. "Anakin was always trying to do the right thing, to help others... he wanted to be good, to be a hero, but he didn't realize he was already the greatest hero of all."

By now, the twin moons had converged, and begun to sink along their separate paths towards the jagged forest horizon. In a few hours the sun would start to rise, and a new day would begin once more, leaving this sorrowful night to memory.

With purposeful silence, Luke Skywalker picked up one of the torches and moved forward.

A low, sharp breath came from Jaina, one he wouldn't have heard if he hadn't been standing so close, and Kyp briefly thought about trying to send her support through the Force again, but he knew she wouldn't accept it. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, watching the light from the torches dance across her profile as she, in turn, watched her uncle, her breath caught in her throat and despair rising up inside of her.

Luke lowered the torch to the stone bier, and the flame spread, limning Anakin's body in golden light that was so bright it brought tears to Kyp's eyes.

"There is no emotion," Luke began the familiar refrain, and the other Jedi joined in, their voices lifting towards the sky alongside the floating embers from Anakin's funeral pyre. "There is peace." 

Murmuring the well-memorized lines from the Code with the others, Kyp was aware that one person among them was not participating, and Luke seemed to realize it, too, because his gaze slowly made its way to Jaina, who was staring at Anakin's burning body with clenched jaw, the flames reflected in her dark eyes.

A swirl of dark, tangled emotions hung around her, anger and fear and anguish. More than anything, though, he sensed her utter, empty despair, and he inexplicably felt it crying out to him, just as it had not long before her stolen Yuuzhan Vong frigate had emerged in the midst of the battle over Coruscant.

As if a veil had been lifted from his eyes, Kyp saw suddenly, with a jolt of alarm, Jaina's desire to fling herself into the flames with her brother, and he actually reached out to grab her shoulder before he realized that he had not seen any conscious thought of doing so. It was just a feeling, perhaps one that she had buried so deeply beneath her shields that she wasn't even aware of herself.

"There is no death," Luke's voice was at the forefront of the final strand, his eyes on his niece. "There is the Force."

It seemed to Kyp that Master Skywalker was speaking directly to Jaina, as if trying to reach her, but she was somewhere else entirely now, perhaps with the embers floating up towards the stars, perhaps somewhere he couldn't even begin to fathom, wherever her brothers were.

No one spoke for some time, the gravity of the moment, coupled with the cloud of sadness that had fallen over them, was too precious for words.

In time, the fire dissipated into thousands of dancing motes that rose slowly into the sky, shimmering against the darkness like newborn stars, and the celestial lights high overhead seemed to shine brighter now, as if Anakin himself was among them now, casting his light across the galaxy for all to see. 

Slowly, the crowd began to disperse, many moving towards Han and Leia to offer their condolences, but Jaina continued to stare at empty bier where her brother's body had lain, tears shinning in her dark, swirling eyes, so Kyp spotted Zekk coming their way before she did. He gave her a gentle nudge with the Force, just enough to direct her attention to the incoming Jedi, and he felt a distinct dread within her as she caught sight of her friend approaching.

To her credit, though, she blinked away her tears with impressive speed and her shields slammed down as tight as an airlock, showing nothing but a cool, emotionless surface.

Still, it was obvious that she had neither the strength nor the composure to deal with Zekk right now. Kyp knew, with Jedi certainty, that if Zekk were to try and put his arms around her, Jaina would shatter into a thousand broken pieces. Clearly, Jaina knew it, too, because her desperation to get away spiked, and she unconsciously cried for help, a cry which no one save for Kyp seemed able to hear.

Taking a small step forward, Kyp positioned himself in Zekk's path, acting as a buffer between him and Jaina, which earned him an irritable glare from the younger man. It was a clear request for him to get out of the way, but Kyp wasn't going anywhere, and after a moment, Zekk seemed to realize that.

"We're returning to Eclipse tomorrow morning with Master Skywalker," he informed Jaina, deciding to ignore Kyp's presence.

Jaina folded her arms with a curt nod of acknowledgment. "So this is good-bye."

"You're not coming?" Zekk asked, taken aback.

"Not for a while."

Zekk simply stood there, staring at her expectantly, green eyes sharp and expectant.

"Kyp asked me to be his apprentice," Jaina said smoothly, sweeping both arms wide to invite inspection of the robes Kyp had outfitted her with. "I'm thinking about taking it for a test flight." 

Zekk glanced at Kyp warily out of the corner of his eye, and Kyp kept his expression blank, letting him take that as he wanted to. The younger Jedi then looked at Jaina with somber eyes, regarding her with distinct disappointment, and something that Kyp wasn't quite sure how to define.

"Then you're right," Zekk said lowly. "This is good-bye."

And with that he abruptly turned and strode away, towards Tenel Ka and the others. 

Jaina stared after him for a moment, then scoffed, dropping her arms. "Well, that was rude," she declared with a wry smirk.

"Get used to it," Kyp advised her softly. "Once word of this little evasion of yours gets around, and that should take about fifteen nanoseconds, you'll find that rogue Jedi live in a world of temperature extremes. Things are either very hot or very cold."

Sure enough, the congregation of young Jedi that Zekk had approached now turned incredulous stares in their direction, and he felt Jaina's hackles rise.

"Evasion?" she echoed, giving him a challenging look. "Are you so sure I wasn't serious?"

"No, I'm not," Kyp countered honestly. "But then again, neither are you. When you make up your mind, let me know. In the meantime, good luck with your friends."

He nodded at the cluster of young Jedi storming towards them, with an unhappy Tahiri Veila in the lead, flanked by Tenel Ka and Lowbacca, with the others only a step behind. The coming altercation wasn't going to be pretty, that much he was certain of, and he had no intention of sticking around for it.

If and when Jaina decided she was serious about wanting to be his apprentice, he would deal with all the drama that would inevitably come with it. Until then, it was her mess to deal with, and he wanted no part of it.

"When they're finished with you," he told her flatly. "Help yourself to the landspeeder. I won't be returning to the city."

Jaina opened her mouth, possibly to demand he not leave her to face the approaching firestorm alone, but she closed it again, clenching her jaw, and turned to her friends defiantly.

Despite himself, Kyp smiled as he strode away. 

No one could deny that Jaina Solo had spirit.


	5. Chapter 5

All she wanted was a little peace and quiet to work on the living ship she'd stolen from Nom Anor, was that really so much to ask? 

Apparently it was, because every time she settled back down to try and make some progress, someone else would come along and disturb her work. Yesterday it had been Tenel Ka, trying to continue the lecture her friends had unloaded on her at Anakin's funeral after Zekk told them she was remaining on Hapes to train under Kyp Durron, then this morning it had been her mother come to investigate what she was up to after Tenel Ka sent her father Prince Isolder out to tell her parents about the goddess ruse she had worked up for herself after seeing the way that Harrar reacted to it during the _Trickster_'s trip to Hapes.

And now it was the last person she felt like dealing with at the moment.

The infuriating Jedi Master himself.

Stomping out to the portal door, Jaina scowled up at him, her hands on her hips. "What the sith do you want?" she cried vehemently, unsure whether she was more angry at the interruption itself, or at the fact that it was him who was doing the interrupting.

Kyp Durron merely raised an eyebrow, as if she was amusing somehow.

"What?" she demanded sharply, not at all liking the way he was looking at her.

"Oh, nothing," he replied with a casual shrug. "Just admiring the new look. That green gel does wonders for your hair, Solo, it really brings out your eyes."

Glancing down at herself, Jaina felt her cheeks flush as she realized she was literally covered in the stuff, from head to toe, and she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand, stabbing Kyp with a fierce glare. "Is there something you wanted?" she grumbled. "Or did you just come here to spread discord and discontent, oh great rogue Jedi?" 

Instead of taking offense, Kyp actually chuckled. "I'm reforming the Dozen with volunteer Hapan pilots," he informed her evenly. "I'm going to call it Vanguard Squadron, I think. I came to offer you a spot, if you're not too attached to this hunk of rock here."

Startled, Jaina blinked at him, unsure what surprised her more, the fact that he had already begun to build a new squadron, or the fact that he had the nerve to ask her to fly under his command after Sernpidal. "I don't take orders from you," she finally responded, imbuing her words with a razor-sharp edge. "I learned my lesson the hard way."

"Now, Jaina, is that any way to talk to your Master?" Kyp retorted smugly. 

"You're the one who said I wasn't serious about that," Jaina pointed out, her temper flaring violently. "And you were right. The last thing I'd want is to be your apprentice, and frankly, I doubt you'd want me in the first place. It wouldn't do for your apprentice to kill you at the very start of training, now would it?" 

Kyp grinned, and she had the sudden urge to wipe that smile right off of his face, right after she shoved him headfirst through the side of the _Trickster_'s hard coral hull.

_You think I'm kidding, do you, Durron? _she thought darkly, sorely tempted to prove him wrong.

But that wouldn't do, at least not now. One never knew when having a Jedi Master like Kyp around would come in handy, and given his stance about the war with the Yuuzhan Vong, he might even prove a useful ally, albeit an untrustworthy one.

"Besides," she said coolly. "This 'hunk of rock' could help us understand the Yuuzhan Vong's biotechnology. I have important work to do here."

"Oh, really?" Kyp inquired, arching an eyebrow wryly. "And how's that going?"

"Well, if you're interested in having a shower, you're in luck," Jaina shot back, lifting her chin defiantly. "There's one on this ship and I just figured out how to start it yesterday."

Kyp leaned against the side of the open portal, and Jaina started to take a step back instinctively, then realized what she was doing and gritted her teeth, remaining where she was regardless of how close in proximity that now put her and the Jedi Master.

"Why, Jaina," he drawled, flashing a leering smirk. "Are you propositioning me?"

A flicker of surprise flashed through Jaina, nearly throwing her off-balance, but she kept her reaction carefully hidden behind her solid shields, and return his smirk with one of her own, letting her eyes rake him over in much the same manner that he had looked at her in the scarlet gown she'd worn to the banquet the night of Anakin's funeral.

"I'm not so sure you'd be worth the effort," she retorted slowly, and when he faltered, she leaned back against the other side of the portal in smug satisfaction.

It wasn't every day that one got to see Kyp Durron, rogue Jedi Master, caught off-guard.

"Now was there anything else, Master Durron?" Jaina asked smoothly, arching an eyebrow in the imperious manner she had witnessed her mother employ hundreds of times before. "Or did you just want to take up as much of my divine time as possible?" 

"Divine?" Kyp echoed, steering the conversation towards less dangerous territory a little too quickly.

"You haven't heard?" Jaina's lips curled up in a slow, feral smirk. "I'm a Yuuzhan Vong goddess now. You can address me as 'Great One' or 'Your Greatness'."

"Goddess, huh?" Kyp asked skeptically. "Think highly of yourself, don't you, Jaina?" 

"The only thing that matters, is how the Yuuzhan Vong think of me," Jaina retorted bluntly, irritation creeping through her. How many times was she going to have to explain this today? She'd already been through it all once with Leia, and with Tenel Ka and Lowie the day before, was Kyp really going to make her do it again for his benefit? From the pointed look he gave her, a signal to continue, it seemed he was. "During the mission to Myrkr, we learned that the Yuuzhan Vong hold great importance for twins, they consider it to be a sign of the gods."

Kyp's brow furrowed, clearly intrigued, and he folded his arms over his chest, nodding for her to continue.

"They didn't care about the rest of the strike team," Jaina said bitterly. "Not even..." she trailed off, refusing to go there, and Kyp's frown deepened, as if he was about to comment on that, so she hurried on. "They just wanted Jacen and I alive, for some sort of twin sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?" Kyp grimaced.

Jaina nodded, not exactly thrilled with the concept herself. "Fight to the death, the winner gets some big role in some pivotal event or something."

"Not exactly the Kessel Run prize, I'd say," Kyp muttered.

Despite herself, Jaina's lips quirked of their own accord. "No," she agreed. "Not much of a compensation, that's for sure."

"So what does all this have to do with you being a goddess all of the sudden?" Kyp demanded. "Don't think I missed the fact that you've named this hunk of rock the _Trickster_. What are you up to?" 

"The Yuuzhan Vong sent a fleet after me, when I stole this ship," Jaina answered with a smirk. "Apparently my pursuit and capture is some sort of holy crusade, headed by Harrar, a priest of the goddess Yun-Harla. He had an amusing reaction when I decided to name this ship after her."

"After her?" Kyp questioned knowingly, and his dark emerald eyes seemed to see right through her. "Or after yourself?"

Tightening her shields instinctively, trying to ward away that piercing gaze, Jaina lifted her chin defiantly. "Does it make a difference?" she challenged.

For a long moment, the Jedi Master stared at her in silence, clearly trying to get a read on her, but whatever he was looking for, he didn't find it, and she felt an acute sense of triumph at the frustrated defeat she sensed within him as he sighed wearily, running a hand through his dark hair.

"So you're thinking of using the goddess ruse as a means of psychological warfare, then?" Kyp asked, giving up his efforts. "How?" 

"How else?" Jaina shrugged, as if it should be obvious. "The Force."

"Oh, you've learned to use telekinesis against the Yuuzhan Vong now, have you?" Kyp sneered.

Bristling, Jaina wondered if using telekinesis to kick him in the shins would be beneath a goddess. "You know what I meant," she snapped. "I can't use the Force directly against the Yuuzhan Vong, but I can use it against things around them, and they don't understand our abilities. Besides, I've gotten all the data I could gather on Danni Quee's yammosk-jammer she used over Coruscant, and I think I'll be able to work something up based on that, not to just block their yammosks, but to send misinformation to them."

"Hence the trickery," Kyp concluded with a thoughtful tilt of his head.

"Exactly," Jaina agreed smugly.

Kyp gave her an appraising look. "Do your parents know about this?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Jaina said, scowling fiercely. "My mother was just here earlier and we talked about it. Not that I need their approval, I'm not a child anymore, in case you haven't noticed." 

"Oh, I've noticed," Kyp murmured.

Sensing something underneath those words, Jaina raised an eyebrow, and Kyp glanced away purposefully, his eyes raking over the coral hull of her living ship. Curious, she reached out with a faint tendril of the Force, gently probing the surface of his thoughts, but she was batted aside easily by a cool, collected presence that was nearly as strong in the Force as her own.

Outwardly, Kyp gave no acknowledgment of the fact that he had caught her trying to poke around in his head, but there was a clear warning through the Force not to try that again, and Jaina relented.

For now.

"What else have you gotten to work?" Kyp inquired evenly, not taking his eyes off of the frigate. "Other than the shower, that is?" 

"I flew here from Myrkr, didn't I?" Jaina snorted. "I'd say I've gotten quite a bit to work. I'm still working on the villip, though, trying to attune it correctly. I think I was getting close, until you interrupted me with your ridiculous offer to fly under your command."

"Forgive me for wasting your divine time," Kyp said dryly. "What altar do I pray for absolution at?"

Jaina would have glared at him, but he still wasn't looking at her, which was curious, so it wasn't worth the effort.

"Don't you have a squadron to train?" she demanded coldly. "I'm sure they could use all the extra practice they can get, considering what happened to your last squadron."

That got him to look at her, all right, but the blazing anger in his gaze almost caused her to step back. 

Almost.

Meeting his scathing gaze directly, Jaina gave him the iciest smile she could manage.

"And your last team faired so much better at Myrkr?" Kyp asked lowly, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. "Wasn't it less than half that came back?"

Jaina drew back as if he'd slapped her in the face, a cold knot twisting in her stomach, spreading through her chest and lungs, and yet at the same time it felt as if her veins had just been filled with molten lava, red-hot and scalding. Her hand went to the hilt of her lightsaber at her hip, but if Kyp noticed, he didn't show any sign of apprehension. His cool green eyes continued to stare her down, confident and vindicated that his words had struck her just as sharply as hers had him.

Shavit, how she ached to cut the arrogance right out of that man, whether it be with her lightsaber or her bare hands.

"Be careful what you insinuate, Jaina," Kyp advised her with narrowed eyes. "After all, Jedi know better than to make blind assumptions and foolhardy accusations."

"I'll keep that in mind, the next time I make an unfounded claim," Jaina replied frostily.

They glared at one another for another long moment, neither ready or willing to back down, and there was something exciting about the anger swirling just beneath the surface in the young, roguish Jedi Master. Something that Jaina found strangely appealing.

Their staring contest might very well have gone on much longer, had they not been distracted by the approaching presence of Lowbacca, emerging from within the _Trickster_. Most likely because he'd sensed the tension outside.

The Wookiee Jedi stopped in the portal doorway, taking in the sight of Kyp Durron with suspicious caution, and he growled an inquisition to Jaina, who was briefly tempted to answer that, yes, the Jedi Master was bothering her, and she would love it if Lowie would 'take care' of him.

"I'm fine, Lowie," she assured her friend calmly. "I can handle Master Durron, and he knows it. Don't you, Kyp?"

"Wouldn't mess with a Solo," Kyp replied lightly, though it veiled something she couldn't quite identify. "Especially not one who's got Skywalker blood in her."

Lowbacca didn't seem entirely convinced, eyeing them both with dark eyes, his concern open and clear, and despite herself, Jaina felt the hardness around her heart soften a bit.

"Really, Lowie," she promised, somehow able to smile faintly in his direction. "It's okay, go on inside and see if you can't get the villip working. Maybe you'll have better luck than I did. I'll be in to join you in just a minute."

Growling, Lowbacca disappeared back into the living ship with a final glance at Kyp, and Jaina waited until she felt him reach the very heart of the ship, out of hearing range and most likely unable to see them through any of the glossy crystal portholes.

"You made your point," she told Kyp begrudgingly. "If there's nothing else you want, I've got work to do."

"I'll leave you to it, then," Kyp replied guardedly, giving her a mocking little half-bow. "Until later, Goddess."

Jaina watched him go, unable to explain why she felt like she'd just plummeted from the top of a Coruscant skyscraper, only to land on a moving speeder, adrenaline coursing through her.

"Until later," she murmured in agreement, and despite herself, she found that the prospect of arguing with Kyp again wasn't nearly as unpleasant as it should have been. In fact, if she was honest with herself, was rather looking forward to it.

_If Jacen were here, he'd say I need to see Cilghal about some Force-therapy,_ Jaina mused wryly, but her amusement faded as the constant ache in her heart flared, reminding her once again that Jacen was not here, just as Anakin was not here, and that they would never be here again. She had lost them both at Myrkr, helpless to save either one of them, and now she was terribly alone...

Closing herself off to the despair, she focused her pain inward, shaping it into steely determination, and vowed that she would never fail anyone she loved ever again.

The Yuuzhan Vong had taken her brothers, they would not take anyone else. 

Turning back to the ship with a tightened jaw, she slipped inside, her boots silent on the coral floor as she made her way in to join Lowbacca, who was staring at the villip in his hands with distaste, clearly frustrated with the alien device which continued to get the better of him.

"No luck, huh?" Jaina asked wryly, and Lowie moaned a negative. "Don't worry," she said, taking a seat beside him at the coral table. "We'll figure it out, even if takes all day."

That didn't seem to reassure Lowie much, who only groaned in exhaustion.

"I know," Jaina told him sympathetically, taking the villip from him and studying it with narrowed, appraising eyes. "I'm beat, too, but this is important work. It could help turn the tide of the war, right?"

Lowbacca gave a growl of agreement. 

"Okay, then," she said, smiling in grim determination. "Then let's get to work."

Several hours later, the villip finally decided to cooperate with them, and leapt to life at her touch, staring back at her with a slightly twisted version of her own face, complete with a decidedly sinister smile, although Lowbacca, being a Wookiee, claimed not to notice much difference between the villip's smile and her own.

The villip's mouth moved along with hers, mimicking the words she spoke, only in a slightly deeper, smokier voice that was thick with shadow and satisfyingly dangerous.

_Dangerous is good,_ Jaina thought with a feral smirk. Dangerous would teach the Yuuzhan Vong to be afraid, to tremble in her presence, at the mere whisper of her name. She would have to be dangerous to pull off the facade of a goddess, ruthlessly so, but she had no doubt she would rise to the occasion.

After all, 'dangerous' and 'ruthless' were both in her blood.

Smoothing her hand over the villip to get it to invert itself, Jaina turned in her seat to give Lowie a weary smile. "We'll get back to this tomorrow," she told him. "I've got some arrangements to make before we can take the next steps." 

Lowie tilted his head, growling.

"I'll tell you all about it in the morning," Jaina promised, rising to her feet. "Why don't you get some sleep, pack your gear. If all goes well, we'll be leaving early." Sensing his question before he could begin to speak, she grinned up at him. "On a completely artificial ship, complete with metal and ceramics and computers and all those other lovely abominations."

The Wookiee chuffed contentedly, and she patted his furry shoulder before exiting the living ship and heading for her quarters back in the palace.

As Kyp had so tactfully pointed out earlier, she was filthy, and her appearance had probably gotten even worse since his departure, as she threw herself into her work twice as hard, mostly to work out her frustration with the dark-haired Jedi Master.

If she was going to go to Ta'a Chume and ask the woman's help, she certainly couldn't do it in this condition.

Former queen or not, Tenel Ka's grandmother still demanded the same respect that her daughter-in-law would be shown, and Jaina could only imagine her mother's horror if she ever even considered appearing before Teneniel Djo in such a state.

Touching a hand to her hair, and pulling it back with a smear of green goo on her fingers, Jaina chuckled mirthlessly.

_I looked this bad when you stopped by, Mom? _she marvelled wryly. _And you didn't say anything?_

She had to admit, she was impressed, her mother must have bitten her tongue hard enough to draw blood.


	6. Chapter 6

He was having an incredible dream.

The sun was shining high overhead, bathing him in its warmth as he lay stretched out on the sandy shores of Mon Calamari, the sparkling oceans in the distance. 

Jaina was with him.

There was no war, no fighting or death, the galaxy was forgotten and they were at peace, just the two of them, on a well earned vacation far away from everyone and anything. The beach was deserted, there was no one else for miles, and the gentle melody of the Force wove its way around them, warming the air even more than the sun itself.

It was peaceful here, and for the first time in many, many years, Kyp felt peaceful, too. 

Beside him, he felt Jaina stir and he opened his eyes as she propped herself up on one elbow, laying on her side, her dark hair cascading over one shoulders as she smiled at him. Her eyes were bright and warm, and she was a sun herself in the Force, full of life and love, a brilliant light that couldn't be contained within the confines of her small body, so it seeped outward into the world around her.

_She's beautiful,_ he thought to himself in awed wonder, reaching out a hand to brush a stray strand of hair away from her eyes. _Like a goddess..._

Jaina laughed at that, but it wasn't the tinkling, airy sound he'd heard earlier in this dream, it was somehow darker and more menacing, strangely out of place in this tranquil moment, and he winced, as if it hurt his ears. 

"Aww, poor Master Durron," Jaina purred, her lips curling up into a smirk. "Do you need me to kiss it and make it all better?"

Warning bells went off somewhere in the murky corners of his mind, and he knew something wasn't right, but he couldn't bring himself to care as Jaina leaned closer until their noses were almost touching, her dark eyes full of an emotion he wasn't able to identify.

"Do you know what I need, Kyp?" she whispered, warm breath spilling across his cheek. "I need you."

_I need you..._

As if coming out of a daze, Kyp Durron's eyes fluttered open, and he found himself staring up at Jaina Solo, who was seated on the edge of his bed, peering down at him with a frown.

"Jaina?" he rasped groggily, sleep still clouding his thoughts. "What...?"

"I need you," Jaina repeated.

Those words sent a shiver of anticipation through him that was entirely inappropriate, and Kyp stifled it as quickly as possible, but if the wicked gleam in Jaina's eyes was any indication, he hadn't completely managed to keep her from noticing.

Pulling his shields tightly around him, Kyp sat up, acutely aware of the fact that he was shirtless and even more aware of her eyes tracing over his chest appreciatively, but he ignored her and the twisting flutter in his stomach, taking a moment to gather his wits and look around the room.

He was in his tent among the refugee camp, just as he's expected, so it wasn't surprising that Jaina had been able to get inside. What was surprising, though, was that she had done so without him noticing her presence. Even in sleep, he should have been able to detect her approaching.

_You're losing your touch, Durron,_ he told himself ruefully.

Jaina was watching him expectantly, and he finally focused his attention on her, forcing himself to ignore how close she was sitting on his bed and fixing his gaze directly on her own.

"What are you talking about?" he asked curiously.

"I need your help," Jaina replied evenly. "You're the only one I can trust with this."

"I thought you didn't trust me?" Kyp reminded her dryly. "That you never would?"

"I said that I _can _trust you," Jaina shot back smugly. "Not that I do."

That stung a little, but he couldn't argue that he did deserve her distrust after Sernpidal, so he focused on what she was saying instead, eyeing her warily. "You said I'm the only one you can trust 'with this'... and what, pray tell, is this 'this' that you're avoiding telling me about?"

If she was irritated that he'd picked up on the fact that she was keeping something from him, she didn't show it.

"What?" Jaina asked with a wry smirk, lowering her eyelashes in mock affront. "Don't you trust me?"

"Should I?" Kyp replied skeptically. "You still haven't told me what it is you want from me."

Dark eyes lingered over his bare shoulders for a moment from under hooded eyelids, her gaze heating his skin, and Jaina gave him an appreciative smile. "Oh, I want many things, Master Durron," she purred softly, and the space between them seemed to shrink into nothingness, causing Kyp's heartbeat to suddenly race in a manner he knew it shouldn't be.

Forcing himself to look away, Kyp relied on the Force to slow his pulse and steady his breathing, flooding himself with a cool, calm sense of unconcern that was entirely fake.

"Cut to the chase, Jaina," he ordered irritably. "Or I'm going back to sleep."

"Fine," Jaina replied, giving him a dark look, and she became serious at once. "I've gotten royal permission for a trip to Gallinore." 

"Gallinore?" Kyp echoed, raising an eyebrow. 

"You've heard about their expertise in bioengineering, I'm sure," Jaina said shortly, pausing only to give him a withering look of contempt in case he hadn't. "The problems New Republic scientists have had when dealing with Yuuzhan Vong technology is that they've never had experience working on bio-organic materials. The scientists on Gallinore have."

"And you think they'll have better luck?"

"Don't you?" 

"Possibly," Kyp said with a shrug, then eyed her appraisingly. "What Yuuzhan Vong 'material' are you going to give them to work with? I can't see you handing over the _Trickster _to a bunch of scientists after all the work you've put into it." 

"No," Jaina conceded with a faint smile that was something more than rueful, but not quite malevolent. "Lowie and I have been able to get almost everything on the _Trickster _to work already, and we can figure out the rest of her secrets on our own. I don't need the Gallinore scientists to work on Yuuzhan Vong ships anyway, that's not their specialty. I'm more interested in what they can tell me about the slave seeds, like the one Uncle Luke cut out of Jacen's cheek on Garqi."

"Slave seeds, huh?" 

Kyp remembered hearing about them, Jacen had gone off on one of his righteous rants again after witnessing the slaves having to fight at the Yuuzhan Vong's command, which in itself wasn't unusual, but even Master Skywalker had been troubled by what he'd seen on Garqi, and that wasn't something Kyp could so easily dismiss.

"And where do you propose to find a working slave seed?" he demanded irritably. "Or is that what you need me for... to get captured by the Vong and implanted like your brother?"

"As tempting as that sounds," Jaina retorted with a wicked smirk. "Nothing that drastic is necessary. It just so happens that three Ni'Korish pirates are locked up here on Hapes at the moment, all three of them sporting coral slave seeds."

"I see," Kyp murmured.

"I've already arranged for them to 'break out'," Jaina explained. "All we have to do is grab one of them, knock him out, and stow him away in the cargo hold of the ship we're being given for this trip."

"Oh, is that all?" Kyp snorted.

"Tenel Ka and Lowie are accompanying us..." Jaina commented evenly, but there was a stirring of anxiety within her that he detected through the Force. 

"But you don't want them to know about any of this, obviously," Kyp concluded bluntly. "Or you'd be going to them instead of me."

"Are you in or not?" Jaina demanded, neither admitting to or denying his words.

Kyp didn't answer right away, taking a moment to reflect on what she'd told him, and what she hadn't. Something didn't feel quite right about this whole thing, but he couldn't really pinpoint what it was he didn't like, all he had to go on was a vague feeling of unease. Jaina was still holding something back from him about this little mission of hers, that much he was certain of, but what and why were questions he couldn't even begin to formulate answers to.

If he wanted answers, he would just have to be patient, because she would have to fill him in sooner or later, if he was to be of any help at all on Gallinore.

"Give me a few minutes to change clothes and pack some gear," he replied wearily. "Then we'll go nab this pirate of yours, all right?"

"Whatever you need," Jaina agreed, and started to rise from the bed, then stopped suddenly, and stretched out on the cot with a smile that reminded him eerily of a Tusken wildcat. "You know what, there's a changing screen," she said, gesturing to the screen in the corner, eyes full of wicked revenge. "I think I'll just stay right here."

Kyp stared down at her for a long moment, contemplating forcibly removing her from his tent, and then shook his head, grabbing a set of Jedi robes and heading for the changing screen. If that was how she wanted it, that was just fine with him. 

He'd play whatever little game she had in mind, and he'd win. 

Once changed, he emerged from behind the screen to find Jaina lounging on his bed, casually using the Force to levitate a small silver orb above her, dark eyes watching it spin slowly. Kyp felt a flicker of irritation that she had gone through his things, but he didn't say anything, knowing it would be hypocritical after he'd broken into her room at the palace the night of Anakin's funeral to get her lightsaber.

Instead, he purposefully didn't speak, rummaging about his stuff to gather together the equipment he might need for this mission of hers, aware of her mirthless amusement as he did so.

"I'll need to make arrangements for my squadron while I'm gone," Kyp informed her once he was done.

"Already taken care of," Jaina retorted, letting the sphere settle down on the bed and rising to her feet. "Vanguard Two is going to play Lead while we're gone."

Startled, he turned to fix her with a disapproving glare, not at all happy to realize she had already gone behind his back to fix things to her liking.

"I might have turned you down you know," Kyp pointed out with a scowl.

"No," Jaina said simply, striding past him. "You wouldn't have."

Without sparing him so much as a glance, she disappeared out the flap of his tent and into the refugee camp, leaving him gaping after her with indignation. Just who did she think she was, anyway, to be making decisions about his squadron without even consulting him?

Growling, he slung his pack over his shoulder and stalked out into the night after her, muttering under his breath about sithly Jedi princesses.

A landspeeder, the same one he'd commandeered to take her to Anakin's funeral, was waiting a few feet away, and Jaina was already seated in the pilot's seat, so he threw his gear in and settled down in the passenger space, giving her a sharp look that she promptly ignored. 

Twenty minutes later, they had stowed their equipment into the cargo hold of a Hapan light freighter, opening the hidden compartment under the deckplates in the hold, and they made their way to the sprawling detention center, slipping inside easily and undetected with the aide of the Force.

_This way,_ Jaina's phantom touch on his mind caused an inexplicable shiver to pass through him, but Kyp followed her just the same as she led the way to the guard house, and to the landing where three E-wings had been conveniently, almost too conveniently, left unattended and ready for an escape. Kyp considered pointing out that it was a little too clean, that the Ni'Korish pirates might get suspicious, but he sensed she was already aware of that and had measured her options carefully before finalizing the details of this plan.

Six guards sat around a small table playing sabacc, but they didn't even notice Kyp and Jaina's arrival thanks to a simple manipulation of the Force around them, and the two Jedi took up a place in the far corner, leaning back against the wall to wait for the Ni'Korish.

They didn't have to wait long, whatever the arrangement to get the prisoners out of their cells was, it must have gone smoothly, because two men dressed in guard uniforms soon appeared in the doorway with a third man, acting like a prisoner being moved, between them. The tension in their step, and the grim confidence he detected through the Force, gave their true identities away even without reading their thoughts.

Glancing at Jaina just to be sure, he received a curt nod in reply.

Just like the guards, the Ni'Korish didn't see them, either, although their gazes swept right over Kyp at least twice as they scanned the room.

It happened fast, but Kyp knew he and Jaina could have saved the guards, had she felt any inclination to do so. The pirate dressed as a prisoner kicked over the table, pinning three of the real guards, and he slit their throats in one fluid movement as his comrades took out the remaining three.

Tempted to intervene somehow, Kyp had actually taken a step forward until Jaina froze him in his tracks with a cold glare that would have caused Sullest to turn to ice. Standing by and doing nothing while the guards were murdered twisted at his stomach, but Kyp remained where he was, jaw clenched and eyes narrowed sharply, watching the pirates with disgust and loathing as they killed the last guard.

Stepping over the bodies without so much as a glance, the three Ni'Korish headed for the landing pad.

Kyp and Jaina moved away from the wall together and followed.

"Three ships," one of the pirates muttered upon spotting the E-wings waiting. "Seems to me it's a bit too neat and tidy."

The Force rippled faintly around Jaina, and he felt her give the pirates a whisper of suggestion.

"Save it for your memoirs," the one in prisoner clothing snapped, suddenly much more confident in their escape. "Go!"

The three men rushed for the E-wings, and Kyp's sights fell on the one who had spoken last as he began to climb into the cockpit of the battered fighter. Reaching out with the Force, he touched the pirate's mind, slowing down his body and shutting down the nervous system until the man came to a complete and utter halt, his hands still hovering over the controls on the console, his bafflement groggy but clear.  
His Ni'Korish companions didn't notice his predicament as they took off, and wouldn't until it was too late, but Kyp doubted they would care anyway.

Striding over the grounded E-wing, he pried open the hatch to find himself face-to-face with the pirate, whose eyes were glossy and frozen, just like the rest of his body, but there was a flicker of nervous energy behind those eyes, a stab of dread at having his escape ruined.

"This the one you wanted?" Kyp asked aloud without looking away from the pirate.

Jaina stepped forward, reaching out a small, slender hand to the back of the man's neck, and he felt her grim satisfaction when her fingers discovered a slave seed. "He'll do," she confirmed evenly, and gestured for him to continue.

Grasping the Force, Kyp gave a gentle twist of the man's mind, just enough to render the man unconscious, but not before he felt a spasm of cold terror flood over the pirate.

He told himself it was a natural reaction to the situation the helpless Ni'Korish had found himself in, that the man had probably just been frightened by the prospect of what he thought was awaiting him back in the Hapan prison, but a small voice in the deepest corner of his heart told him what he didn't want to admit. 

It hadn't been him that the pirate that the pirate was afraid of, or even the thought of being executed.

The pirate had been looking directly at Jaina as he lost consciousness, staring up at her with blatant fear that had nearly paralyzed him.

Whatever he'd seen in her eyes had filled him with cold terror.

The implications of that realization would leave Kyp unsettled for days to come.


	7. Chapter 7

**The events depicted in this post took place in the _Dark Journey_ companion story "Rogue Apprentice", which was published in Star Wars Gamer #8**

Gallinore was beautiful.

Mist clung to the deep forests of the planet, and the slanting rays of the sun lent the humid atmosphere a luminous, verdant glow.

As Lowbacca had observed upon their arrival, it looked a bit like Kashyyyk.

A stiff breeze stirred the thick, landbound clouds that filled the open docks and clung to the trees in the city of Dimitor beyond as tall, swaying branches danced across the horizon and mist swirled low the ground, allowing pilots, mechanics and flight officials to come and go like wraiths.

Glancing down at the dark green flight suit she was wearing, Jaina Solo smiled in wry amusement. She had suggested, before departing from Hapes, that they all dress identically to the people of Gallinore, as means of honoring local customs and creating an impression of unity.

Tenel Ka had been pleased with the notion, and had not paused to consider whether or not Jaina had ulterior motives for wanting to blend in.

Of course, the Hapan princess also thought that the reason they were here was so Gallinorian scientist could impart on Jaina some new knowledge that might help her figure out more about the _Trickster_, the Yuuzhan Vong frigate that she had stolen in their escape from the worldship at Myrkr.

And she had no idea that there had been a secret, hidden fifth passenger aboard the Hapan freighter, kept in a Force-induced trance so deep that neither Tenel Ka nor Lowbacca had been able to detect his presence.

_Left_, she mentally instructed her companion, and beside her, Kyp Durron steered their prisoner, who was walking along with them dressed in a green flightsuit of his own so as not to draw attention, towards the pilot refresher facility.

Crimpler, as she had gleaned his name to be after they had awoken him with the Force, believed that he was being granted a conditional pardon by Princess Tenel Ka herself, once his slave seed had been removed and he divulged any helpful information he might have against the Vong. Though he had been skeptical, even after she gave him a nice nudge with the Force, he was cooperating with the Jedi- for now.

"We're going into the ventilation tunnels," Jaina explained, for his benefit, as they slipped into a dimly lit corridor.

Crimpler didn't respond, just followed dutifully until they stopped before a large, circular hatch at the end of the corridor.

Jaina reached for the controls, but Kyp caught her wrist in his hand. "Wait." She looked up at him questioningly, a silent prompt for him to explain. "The light in this hall could trigger an alarm." 

With that, he drew his lightsaber and swept it in a shining arch toward the ceiling lights, which flares sharply, then blinked out, leaving the hall in darkness.

Jaina gave Kyp an approving nod, then took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, and let her body temperature begin to drop. She knew Kyp was doing the same to his own body, as well as Crimpler's, so she placed a numb hand on the Hapan pirate's arm, which was cold to the touch.

"What is this?" Crimpler demanded groggily. "What's happening?" 

While Jaina would have preferred not to waste time answering the man, Kyp gave him a curt explanation, reminding him that if they were caught, it was right back to the prison cell for Crimpler. 

Easing open the door, Jaina hauled herself into the rounded passage, which was just big enough to crawl through, and began to pull herself along the downward slope. She felt more than heard Kyp and Crimpler follow suit, and wondered briefly if their chilled limbs felt as sluggish and unresponsive as her own.

When the tunnel finally leveled out and opened into a corridor big enough for them to walk upright, she rolled out, grateful for the soft blue light, which did little to warm the frigid tunnels, but at least allowed them to see where they were going. Crimpler stumbled out behind her, stretching his cramped muscles with a concentrated frown, and Jaina turned her attention to Kyp, smiling faintly when he hit his head as he stood a moment too early.

"What?" he demanded, giving her a dark look.

"Nothing," Jaina acquiesced, and began to lead the way down the tunnel, Kyp just a step behind and Crimpler bringing up the rear. There was something off with the towering, muscular Hapan pilot, but she chalked it up to anxiety and nerves, both understandable given the circumstances. 

They moved silently and stealthy through a complex maze of tunnels, counting off side-corridors and draining shoots, following the pattern that the two Jedi had committed to memory from the security layouts Lowbacca had uploaded to a holocube at Jaina's request from the data terminal where he was hard at work scouring for information that might help them better understand the concepts of Yuuzhan Vong technology based on the biotechnology of Gallinore. 

Right as they reached the hatch they'd been looking for, though, Crimpler dropped to the floor and executed a quick leg sweep, drastically slower than it would normally have been thanks to how chilled he was, but the two Jedi were also off their game thanks to the drop in body temperature, and Kyp went down.

As he fell, though, the Jedi Master purposefully placed himself between the Hapan pirate and Jaina, buying her a few seconds to stumble back a couple of paces and get her bearings.

Crimpler came for her next, pivoting to one side and bringing his knee up to snap off a quick, sharp kick, but Jaina had been trained by Mara Jade, and she recognized the feint. Ducking under the first kick, she pivoted hard towards the capable Ni'Korish kickboxer, timing her momentum to his second kick and slamming her elbow into the sensitive tendon just below the bunched muscle of his calf.

The jolt of impact was not nearly as strong as it should have been, even with her movements compromised, and too late she realized the third feint he had in store.

Hitting the wall from the strength of his kick, Jaina rolled down to the ground on one knee, too cold and too angry to feel the pain of bruised bones. Crimpler advanced faster than she would have expected, but she was ready for him, and flung out a hand in his direction.

Dark lightning flared from her fingertips, and jagged tendrils of energy caught the Hapan pirate, lifted him, and hurled him across the tunnel into the solid wall with enough force to give him a concussion.

"Jaina!" she distantly heard Kyp hiss her name, but she paid him no mind.

Crimpler was writhing against the wall where the Force lightning held him pinned, struggling like a kyrat dragon caught in a sandtrap as the dark energy seared through his body, scalding flesh and blood and bone without prejudice.

A strong hand suddenly clamped down on Jaina's wrist and, like a blanket, another presence fell over her own, smothering out the Force lightning.

Kyp spun her around to face him, green eyes sharp and full of fire as they glared down at her, his jaw clenched.

The condemnation never came, though. 

A faint hissing in the air drew Kyp's attention, and Jaina followed his gaze up to the ceiling, where dozens of small round openings were beginning to drip coolant fluid.

"The flash set off the sensors," Kyp said grimly. "Let's get him to his feet."

Moving quickly, they hauled the dazed Hapan pilot to his feet and started for the hatch, when a wall of durasteel suddenly slammed down in their path, sealing off the tunnel. They whirled fast, but a similar blockade had already fallen into place behind them.

"Sithspawn," Jaina spat, cursing herself for her stupidity.

Kyp gave her a sharp look, but had no time to comment as the low hissing noise turned into a roar and the drips of coolant falling became a river as streams of cold, acrid-smelling fluid poured out of the valves overhead.

The powerful blast of coolant knocked Jaina off her feet and sent her spinning down into the churning fluid. She went under briefly, then came up sputtering with a mouthful of the bitter-liquid before something caught her foot and pulled her under again.

For a moment she knew panic, but then a cool calm flooded over her, a detached sort of logic that said she could either drown or find a way to the surface, and so she did just that, her hand guided to some metallic hold on the rounded wall. Hauling herself upward, inch by painful inch, eyes closed against the burning coolant as her fingers found one handhold after another, her lungs were aching by the time she broke the surface, and for a few moments all she could do was gasp in air and cling to her metal perch.

"Kyp?" she rasped, and gagged as she choked on coolant.

He responded with a touch of the Force, and she turned her head to find him holding onto a similar handhold, his free arm looped under Crimpler's chin and keeping the other man afloat.

The coolant level continued its swift rise, the powerful spray coming from above making breathing difficult, and Jaina decided it wasn't work it to risk speaking aloud again. She glanced up at the ceiling, and her stomach twisted, realizing if they didn't find a way out of here, and fast, they were going to drown.

_What an inglorious way for a Jedi to die,_ she thought in disgust. _Drowning in coolant fluid._

Her brothers would have been so disappointed.

A sudden flicker from Kyp caught her attention, and he used the Force to point towards a swirling vortex in the water, what had to be a drainage tunnel, and most likely what had pulled her under earlier. 

Kyp gave her a mental query, and she gave a mental shrug in reply.

Satisfied, Kyp let go of the wall, deliberately releasing himself and his charge into the powerful spiral.

Taking a deep breath, Jaina followed his lead.

Down she fell, whirling through the cold and darkness, and for a time her mind drifted as her lungs cried out for oxygen. Vague images flashed before her eyes... the flutter of a black cape, a purple lightsaber ticking in the dark, solemn brown eyes watching her sadly, mechanical breathing echoing around her...

Her tumbling descent slowed as the wall narrowed, and then diffused light rushed toward her through the roaring water, awakening her from wherever her thoughts had just gone.

Silhouetted against it were the dark, tumbling shapes of Kyp and their prisoner coming to a sudden halt, but fuzzy images were still fading behind Jaina's eyes, and she wasn't able to react in time, so she continued to hurtle forward, slamming into a metal grate.

_Shavit,_ she thought, even though she was too numb to feel it. _That's going to leave a mark._

Coolant continued to surge through the narrow tunnel, pounding against her back and pinning her against the grate, but Kyp reached out for her with the Force, and then she was sliding to one side of the grate, courtesy of a psychic shove that was stronger than the swift-flowing stream.

The flare of Kyp's lightsaber darted toward the hatch, and the lock gave way.

All three of them spilled out, falling into a wide, shallow tank, and Jaina struggled to the side and hauled herself over, feeling dizzy after the hard hit she'd taken to her head. She tumbled to the floor, and lifted her head when she felt a groggy tingle in the Force, only to find several pairs of booted feet in front of her.

Strong hands seized her roughly, dragging her upright, and she viciously cursed the guards as her head spun.

Inner warmth filled her chest and spread outward into her numb limbs, her chilled body awakening to a thousand sharp prickles of pain, and she clung to the wrist of the guard who had jerked her to her feet, certain her legs would not support her if he let go.

There was shouting, vile words echoing in her mind, reverberating around inside of her pulsating skull, and she screamed in her head, willing the voices to die out and go away.

A bright flare of light filled the room, a burst of power that shattered her faltering concentration on staying conscious, and as soon as the guard holding her fell, she, too, crumpled to the floor, and darkness washed over, pulling her down into its clutches.

The dull humming in her ears rose swiftly to a shrill wail and then dissipated in a sharp, sudden burst, and she jolted back to awareness, sitting up abruptly, feeling dazed and disoriented. The darkness still swam behind her eyes, and it took a few moments for reality to settle back in again, for her to remember the mission that had brought them here and to register her surroundings.

_Kyp? _she sought the Jedi Master through the Force, touching a hand to her forehead and feeling blood.

His only answer was a cool, curt acknowledgment, brisk and informal, which unsettled her, so she opened her eyes and looked around the room.

Crimpler had regained consciousness, and dimly she remembered sensing him come to just as they were pulling themselves out of the now-empty coolant tank that he was leaning heavily against, but she was taken aback by the undisguised horror in his eyes as he looked at her.

Baffled, and more than a little irritated by his accusing stare, Jaina slid her gaze in Kyp's direction, and was startled to find him kneeling over one of the four guards that lay sprawled across the floor, rhythmically pumping the man's chest with both hands.

The guard's body jerked suddenly, and the bluish color began to fade from his face, so Kyp rocked back on his heels, grim countenance clouding his features as he rose to his feet.

"Wow," Jaina said, gazing at the other three Force-blasted guards, who she knew he had already resuscitated. "Who did this, you or me?" 

"We've got to keep moving," Kyp said, taking her by the hand and pulling her to her feet, pointedly ignoring her question. "The longer this takes, the slimmer our chances of walking out of here."

Jaina nodded slowly. "Before we go, I need you to show me how to wipe away memories. They can't remember they saw us here."

Kyp just stared at her, strangely closed off through the Force, and his silence answered the question he had avoided moments before. Whatever had happened to the guards to stop their hearts, essentially killing them, it had been her doing, and even though Kyp had been able to restart their hearts, the Jedi Master was deeply troubled by it.

The thing was, although she knew she should be troubled by it, too, Jaina found she didn't care in the least, and that, at least, gave her a moment's pause.

"The scientist who's working with us is a political prisoner," she argued, brushing her doubts aside. "Secrecy is vital, not only so we can get our prisoner where he needs to go, but also to stave off more reactionary response to the Jedi."

_And from them,_ she added, deep behind the cover of her mental shields. She didn't want to even think about how her uncle would react if he knew about this.

There was a long stretch of stony silence from Kyp, and then he shook his head. "No." 

"No?" Jaina repeated incredulously. "You said yourself that no one can know about this!"

"And I hold to that," Kyp replied grimly. "But I'll do it myself." 

Sensing where his reluctance was coming from, Jaina raised an eyebrow in challenge. "What's the matter? Now the sort of lessons you had in mind, Master?"

"An apprentice should learn from a Master, not repeat his mistakes."

"This is no different from the little Jedi mind tricks that every Jedi uses without a twinge of guilt," she argued. "You're just better at it than most. If I'd wanted to become a singer of ballads, I'd be traveling with Tionne. If I wanted to be a healer, then I'd be talking to Cilghal."

Kyp clearly didn't like where this was going, but she didn't care.

"You want to win the war against the Yuuzhan Vong, and that's why we're here," she said lowly, putting her will behind her words. "Show me."

The Jedi Master let out a profound sigh and grimaced, as if preparing himself for some unpleasant task. He dropped to one knee beside one of the fallen guards, and Jaina felt him reach out into the man's mind. "Watch, feel and follow," he instructed shortly. 

Intrigued, Jaina watched him closely, not with her eyes, but with the Force, and she felt him forming the image of a morning-misted sun, barely visible above the forest horizons of Gallinore, hours earlier, around the time that the four Jedi had first landed on Gallinore.

With smooth, cool strokes, Kyp swept away the memory from that moment to this, and then eased away, like a shadow disappearing into the night.

Slowly, Kyp broke the contact with the fallen guard and lifted his eyes to hers. His face was still pale from the chilling tumble through the coolant tunnels, and deep shadows beneath his eyes made their emerald hue vivid and intense. The power in them, though fading, was both eerie and compelling.

"Now you," he said quietly.

Jaina nodded and reached out to another guard, but instead of envisioning the morning sun, she focused upon the image of a chronometer, and slowly forced it into backward motion, stripping away moment's from a man's life.

When the task was done, she looked up at Kyp, who was watching her with an unreadable expression.

"You have a knack for this," he said at last. "Good control, very precise. You take that one, I'll do the other." Turning away, she heard him mutter, "Let's get this over with."

A few minutes later, all suspicious memories wiped from the guards' minds, the two of them arrived at Sinsor Khal's lab with Crimpler in tow, and the confined scientist was waiting for them.

"Welcome," Khal greeted them, coming forward and extending a hand in Jaina's direction, which she took, and she was at once aware that the red labcoat he wore was chosen for practicality, or perhaps camouflage, as she recognized the coppery scent hanging around him, having seen enough of it spilt in battle to know it anywhere.

Shaking his hand, Jaina reached out with a wisp of the Force, her curiosity aroused when he neither spared the men accompanying her a glance nor noticed their wet clothes and disheveled appearance. There was little to read, though, he was strangely closed off to her and all she was able to detect was a neutral curiosity of his own, devoid of almost any emotion and more detached than any being she had ever encountered.

To him, they were not visitors, or even people, really... they were specimens.

A small shiver crept up her neck, and she quickly withdrew her hand, gesturing instead to Crimpler, who Kyp was restraining with little difficulty, having resorted to using the Force to hold the large man captive. "This man has the implant," she informed the scientist.

"Just put him over there," Khal instructed, and pointed to a long table, bordered with a small gutter and slanted downward toward a pair of drains.

Kyp turned a dubious stare in Jaina's direction, but she drew her shields in tighter to keep out his horrified outrage, and the anger blazing at her through the Force. 

"It'll be fine," she asserted.

Crimpler didn't seem to share her optimism, and the struggle to get him onto the operating table ended abruptly when Sinsor Khal placed a small blaster-shaped weapon to the Hapan pirate's shoulder and pressed the trigger, causing him to slump over the table.

"Now then," Khal said calmly. "All set for a quick vivisection and a general tune-up. A figure of speech," he added, as if sensing the stormcloud frown gathering on Kyp's face behind him. 

With Kyp's help, Jaina shifted Crimpler into position on the table, and as she straightened, she felt a faint flicker of mental power, not nearly strong enough to be Kyp's, but a force of mind strangely similar to that of a Jedi. She whirled to face Sinsor Khal, who was watching her with surprising intensity, almost as if he was looking into the core of her, and she suddenly had a revelation about why this man seemed to understand things most people could never even fathom.

"I know you," he observed equivocally. 

"From what Ta'a Chume said, you were already a guest of Gallinore's government when I was learning to walk," Jaina retorted with a shake of her head. "And I've never been to Gallinore before."

An odd smile slipped onto Sinsor Khal's face, and he held his hand out, palm up. A small, sharp tool rose from the tray and settled down into his grasp with practiced ease, and Jaina blinked, her suspicions confirmed.

"I never said we'd met," the failed Jedi specified. "I said I know you."

Kyp started forward, his emotions clouded to her, but she understood his intentions, and placed a hand on his arm. "We've got to get back," she said softly. "We still have some work to do to make sure there's no record of our passing." 

After a long moment, Kyp tore his hard stare away from the scientist who had been expelled from the Old Order long before Jaina was ever born and nodded his agreement. He headed for the door, pausing there to wait for her, but not turning around, his unease ringing through loud and clear across the Force.

For her part, Jaina fixed Sinsor Khal with a level gaze, neither giving warning nor approval, and the scientist gave her a half-bow that was somehow both ironic and respectful at the same time.

Retracing their steps through the corridors and seeking out all those that they had encountered on the way down to Khal's lab, Jaina didn't argue when Kyp insisted on doing most of the work. In truth, she was still feeling a bit weak after the blow to her head, and she'd exerted a terrible amount of Force energy today, so she was content to save her strength for now.

And Sinsor Khal's words continued to echo in her thoughts, like mocking laughter.

_I know you._

She could not ignore them, not could she deny them- not considering the task still before her.

Once Kyp returned to the ship, Jaina would have to find Lowbacca, and steal the last few hours away from her friend's memory.


	8. Chapter 8

Arrogance was a flaw he could not seem to escape.

It had always been one of his problems, but Kyp Durron had convinced himself that he had overcome it in recent years, that what others perceived to be arrogance was really a deep understanding of his own superior skills. 

But in just a few hours time, Jaina Solo had ripped that denial to shreds.

He had known, when he agreed to help her with this mission, that it was going to be an ambiguous venture, but he'd told himself that if it worked, if the Gallinore scientists could help them find a way to combat Yuuzhan Vong technology, then it would be worth it.

And he'd convinced himself that if Jaina went too far, he would be able to reign her in.

_Such arrogance,_ he snorted, shaking his head. What had made him think that anyone, least of all him, could keep Jaina Solo under control? She was one of the most talented Jedi in the Order, and easily the most powerful among the younger generation with her brothers dead, but more importantly she had the sheer force of will that Kyp had only encountered in a select few.

Not to mention she certainly had the bloodline for greatness.

So why had he so foolishly assumed that he could keep the granddaughter of Darth Vader in check?

Arrogance, plain and simple.

After leaving the Hapan pirate in the hands of the twisted Sinsor Khal and then erasing all evidence of their trip down to his lab, Kyp had parted ways with his 'apprentice', deciding to return to the ship. He had claimed fatigue, blaming it on their harrowing plummet through the coolant system, but he doubted she had believed it.

They both knew the real reason he hadn't stuck with her was that he had no desire to return to the captive scientist's lab and watch the proceedings.

He didn't need to ask what kind of 'experiments' Crimpler was going to undergo at the hands of the Force-sensitive, inhumane scientist, he could guess, and that was enough to make his stomach turn over. The worst part was that, he was certain, what he could imagine was probably nowhere near as horrible as what would take place.

The air in that lab was thick and bitter with the scent of blood, and the floors had clearly been stained with so much of it that not even the best cleaning solutions could remove it entirely. The gutters lining the operating table, the drains at the bottom... it wasn't a lab at all, it was a torture chamber.

And yet Jaina had gone back, to stand by and watch the whole thing without so much as a blink of an eye.

Closing his eyes, Kyp collapsed wearily on the hard bunk in the smallest of the Hapan freighter's sleeping cabins, feeling more exhausted than he had in years. It had been a long day, and he hadn't gotten a full night's sleep the night before, due to Jaina's arrival in his tent to ask him along on this mission, but his exhaustion had little to do with any physical lassitude.

He briefly considering meditating, but felt he was too tense and ill at ease for it to be very effective, and sleep was out of the question, even if he did have several hours to himself.

Jaina had gone off into the wilderness with Tenel Ka and Lowbacca, and she'd informed him that they might not return until full dark. There hadn't been an invitation for him to come along, but he wasn't offended, his presence would only cause problems with her friends, especially the Hapan princess.

And at the moment, Kyp rather felt he needed some time away from Jaina, to clear his head.

They had broken too many laws to count today, and crossed more lines that he was ready to admit, but he wasn't sure what to do about any of it.

_She wants to stop the Yuuzhan Vong, I want to stop the Yuuzhan Vong,_ he told himself. _That's all that matters. It's that simple._

But it really wasn't. 

Sighing, he decided he might as well face the inevitable. He'd been avoiding thinking about what had happened today, about what Jaina had done and what he'd helped her do, but there was no use in denying it. All he had was his own thoughts and an empty ship to keep him company until Jaina and her friends returned, sooner or later the grim memories were going to break through the barriers he'd erected around them.

It had all started out well enough, or so it seemed, but everything had fallen apart so fast... he still wasn't entirely sure how it had all come to pass. The plan had been simple, they would get Crimpler into Sinsor Khal's lab by taking him through the ventalation system, bypassing the sensors by lowering their body temperatures with the Force.

He hadn't really stopped to think about all that could go wrong.

The downside of lowering their body temperatures so drastically, was that it not only slowed down their movements, but their thinking, and neither he nor Jaina had realized that Crimpler was about to turn on them until it was too late.

It was embarrassing how easily the Hapan pirate had gotten Kyp flat on his back, but at least by tumbling to the ground in front of Jaina, he'd given her a chance to gain her footing. Unfortunately, she hadn't faired much better, though, and after being hurled into a wall, she'd had enough.

He told himself that there hadn't been any time to stop her, that it had all happened too quickly, but he knew why it had taken him so long to put an end to Jaina's Force lightning attack. The fury in her eyes, the black hate swirling around her in the Force, had left him reeling, and it had cost Crimpler a few moments of excruciating pain, the likes of which he was willing to bet the Ni'Korish had never experienced before. 

Kyp had known going into this mission that Jaina was in danger of slipping to the dark side, he just hadn't realized that she'd already fallen headfirst into the darkness.

Until she started throwing Force lightning anyway.

Once he'd shaken off his surprise, Kyp had been quick to act, smothering out the dark energy flickering from her fingertips with his own formidable powers, but the flash of lightning had already set off the sensors, and within moments the entire tunnel was being flooded with coolant fluid, dragging the two Jedi and their prisoner down towards a drainage pipe.

The three of them had been tossed around violently in the coolant tunnels, and Kyp was sporting a few bruises from banging into the walls, but he'd been lucky enough not to sustain any injury like the concussion that Jaina had nearly given herself when she failed to stop herself from plowing into a metal grate.

Her strength in the Force had kept her going, but he'd known she was bound to lose consciousness at some point, especially with no oxygen filling her lungs, so he'd been impatient to find a way out of the tunnels, for her sake more than his own.

Spilling out into the tank hadn't exactly gone as smoothly as he'd hoped, though, when they found four armed guards waiting. With Crimpler just coming to in his arms, Kyp hadn't been able to leap to Jaina's defense as he'd wanted, and he couldn't help thinking that if he'd reacted faster, or just let go of Crimpler, that he could have prevented what happened.

But a shadow had been building within her, much too thick and much too fast for him to do anything about it. There had been a rumbling in the Force as her power grew too strong, overwhelming her, and then it had exploded out into the world around them, ripping through the guards.

In that moment, Kyp had seen a glimpse of what Jaina Solo could become.

And it terrified him.

For all his preaching that it was worth the risks of the dark side if it meant defeating the Yuuzhan Vong and saving the galaxy, Kyp had never truly considered what it might mean if the dark side were to claim one of their own, especially one as strong in the Force as Jaina.

Especially Darth Vader's granddaughter.

Jaina hadn't been aware of what she'd done, of course, since it had happened instinctively as she blacked out, and when she'd come to and inquired as to which of them had caused the Force-blast, Kyp had not answered.

If she didn't remember, it was for the best.

The last thing he wanted was Jaina getting it into her head just how dangerous she could be using the dark side. 

As for Crimpler, the poor Hapan pirate had been terrified out of his mind, pressing himself against the tank, as if trying to get as far away from Jaina as possible, even while she was unconscious. Kyp had understood all too well, the eruption of dark power from his charge had frightened him, as well, but for entirely different reasons.

Reasons that had only spurred him on in his determination not to let even one of the guards die.

She'd stopped all four of their hearts, so he'd had to act quickly in order to get them restarted before any permanent damage was done. There was no way to be sure that they wouldn't suffer some sort of side affects from the attack, but at least they would live.

At least Jaina wouldn't be a murderer.

Yet, anyway.

If she continued down the path she was currently walking, it was only a matter of time.

And he wasn't the only one who saw it.

While Tenel Ka seemed wary of Jaina's thirst for vengeance, the princess clearly had no idea just how far into the dark side her friend had fallen, and Lowbacca, as wise as he was, couldn't see past the girl he'd trained alongside for all these years. Kyp was beginning to wonder if even Luke and Mara, or Leia for that matter, had truly realized just how much danger Jaina was in these days.

But Sinsor Khal had seen it.

_I know you._

Those words, so simple on the surface, had spoken volumes about the things Kyp had been trying not to see within Jaina. The deranged scientist, who must have once trained as a Jedi before the Purges only to be expelled from the Order, and for obvious reasons, had seen something that he recognized in Jaina. It was more than just an acknowledgment of who she was, the granddaughter of Vader.

Khal had seen a kindred spirit in Jaina, and it unsettled Kyp.

The strange thing was, he sensed that it bothered Jaina, too, but she didn't seem to care enough to stop and think about why. Instead, she'd left Crimpler to the madman's devices, and informed Kyp that they still needed to wipe the memories of anyone else who had seen them on the way in.

Chilled by Khal's words, and remembering what had happened with the guards, Kyp had insisted on doing the honors, if only to keep her from doing something that they would both regret. 

After all, if she was willing to submit the Hapan pirate to 'scientific testing' all for the sake of gathering information on the slave seed, in the vague hope that it might give her some idea of how to combat Yuuzhan Vong technology, then there was no telling what she might do while poking around in someone's head.

Already, she'd used her newly acquired skills on Lowbacca, her dearest friend, to ensure the Wookiee didn't remember anything that had gone on on in the research center. Kyp hadn't felt much like witnessing that, either, although he knew it was necessary for Lowie to have no memory of their activities on Gallinore.

Upon returning to the ship, the tired Jedi Master had come to a rather alarming conclusion. 

Jaina was in serious trouble.

And so was he. 

Somehow, she had gotten him to cross lines he would never have crossed, and the disturbing thing was that he knew she knew it. And now she knew that if she manipulated him, he would help her, despite his better judgment. He didn't understand why she had this affect on him, why she could rob him of all good sense, and he didn't know how to get rid of it.

There was just something about Jaina that he found captivating, and he felt a pull towards her that had little to do with the Jedi or even the Force.

He was dancing a fine line now, and he knew it, and not just when it came to what he was letting her get him into. This was Han's daughter, his only remaining child, and Luke Skywalker's niece, a woman-child who both men were fiercely protective of. She was over fourteen years younger than Kyp, which meant that he should have been the one setting a good example, rather than following her misguided lead. 

And he should not have been feeling the things he did. 

Especially while he was watching her fall deeper and deeper into the dark side's embrace.

Some part of him wondered if his attraction to her, past the physical level, didn't have something to do with that. It wasn't an idea he liked to consider, but he couldn't deny that they had a great deal in common these days, and the dark side hadn't lost its appeal entirely, even after all these years.

It wasn't a new development, though, he'd noticed it at Sernpidal, so he dismissed that notion. Even before that he'd always found her to be remarkable young woman, of more interest than any of the Jedi her age, and most of those who were her elders. She was as beautiful as her mother, even more so in Kyp's opinion, because where Leia had a regal, graceful beauty, Jaina's was a little less polished, with something wild and carefree, almost luminous, beneath the surface.

There wasn't a male Jedi in the Order, of any species, who wasn't aware of Jaina Solo.

And Jaina had always been very aware of Kyp, even if it wasn't in the same way. Her father considered him a dear friend, and her uncle saw him as a thorn in his side, but a thorn he refused to cut off from the flower. Up until he'd manipulated her at Sernpidal, Jaina had been civil, even nice, to Kyp when their paths crossed, despite the division he had caused among the Jedi.

After Sernpidal, though, she had sworn she would never even spit on him if he was dying of thirst on Tatooine.

What had changed since then?

A good deal, really... Coruscant had fallen, Jaina had witnessed the deaths of several of her friends at Myrkr, she had lost both of her brothers on one cursed mission, and she had clearly decided that the path of vengeance was the best one to take now.

And if vengeance was what she was after, it was only natural that she sought out the Jedi most-notorious for pushing for more aggression against the invaders, the consequences be damned.

_Is that the only reason, though? _he asked himself, and then rolled his eyes, knowing that whatever the answer was, it wouldn't be to his liking. If it was yes, then he would feel discouraged, but if it was no, then he would worry about what that meant and whether or not it was a good thing. 

Things had never been simple for him where Jaina was concerned, by any means, but he had a feeling they were only going to get more complicated before this was all over.

At some point, he must have drifted off to sleep, despite his earlier conviction not to, less his troubled thoughts cause his rest to become uneasy and restless, because the next thing he was aware of was a soft hand on his shoulders, and a familiar voice calling his name.

Blinking groggily, Kyp opened his eyes to find an angel hovering over him, dark hair windswept and eyes bright with adrenaline and a sly intelligence that was at once both intriguing and worrying. 

"Jaina?" he asked, amazed at how tired he was. "What time is it?"

"Late," she replied quietly, her voice lowered, presumably so as not to disturb Lowbacca and Tenel Ka, who must have retired to their own cabins.

There were definite advantages of having the Crown Princess of Hapes along on a trip like this, if only because you were sure to be outfitted with a ship large enough to hold sleeping quarters for at least four beings, even one as large as Lowbacca. While Kyp and Lowie had each gotten their own cabin, however cramped, the girls had taken the larger one, with two bunks, as their own, which was the only logical way to do it, really.

Kyp did not allow himself to consider how much easier he would have slept if Jaina had been in the same room.

Banishing such thoughts, Kyp sat up, leaning against the cabin wall, and Jaina took that as an invitation to get comfortable, sitting beside him and likewise leaning against the metallic wall.

For a long moment, they didn't talk, Jaina didn't seem in any hurry to get to whatever point had brought her to his bedside, and Kyp didn't particularly mind her presence, on the contrary, he wasn't sure he wanted her to leave at all, but that was exactly what prompted him to clear his throat.

"How'd your little hike go?" he inquired.

"It was interesting," Jaina replied with a small smirk. "We were ambushed by giant insects."

Raising an eyebrow, Kyp waited to hear the rest of the story.

"A pack of firedrakes attacked us," she explained ruefully. "They created a distraction to get our attention, while others snuck up on us from behind."

"And you fell for it?" Kyp asked, unable to keep from smiling.

Thankfully, Jaina seemed to be in a much less hostile mood than he'd seen from her earlier in the day. "Yeah," she said with a laugh. "We fell for it."

He sensed that she wasn't too proud about that mistake, no doubt she and the others had lowered their guards while watching the glittering bugs dance across the night sky, but what he found curious was the excitement brewing just below her shields, shields which she wasn't reinforcing for once.

"Let me guess," he concluded knowingly, feeling a bit melancholy at the realization that only one thing could get her that worked up these days. "These firedrakes somehow gave you an idea about how to fight the Vong?"

Jaina's smug smirk was answer enough. 

Despite himself, Kyp had to admit he was impressed. His concerns about her mental state and the darkness starting to consume her aside, there was no denying that Jaina had inherited a good deal of her grandfather's strategic abilities.

It was everything else that she'd inherited from him that had Kyp on edge.

"I'll be going back to Sinsor Khal's lab in the morning," Jaina informed him. "To collect the data he recovered from the subject."

Subject? Kyp echoed to himself, his stomach knotting at the cool detachment she was displaying.

"If all goes well," she continued, not noticing his disquietude. "We should be able to return to Hapes the day after tomorrow. Lowie's been finding a lot of information that has potential to be helpful to us down the road, so I want to give him time to gather as much as he can."

"Good idea," Kyp murmured in agreement, although he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know what uses she would come up with for the information the Wookiee found.

"Tenel Ka expressed an interest in what you've been doing while Lowie and I have been searching the computer terminals," Jaina commented casually, seemingly unconcerned with the Hapan princess' suspicions. "She's going to help Lowie some tomorrow, so would you mind hanging around?"

The corners of Kyp's mouth lifted in wry amusement. "Why, _Goddess_," he said, putting emphasis on her self-appointed title. "Do you need a simple Jedi Master like myself to save you from a mere mortal princess?" 

His humor wasn't appreciated.

"Just keep her off my back for a while, okay?" Jaina demanded wearily, and for the first time, he saw signs that today's whirlwind of worrying activity had taken a toll on her after all. "I won't be able to get anything done with her always watching me."

"Fine," Kyp sighed. "I'll do what I can."

Immediately, the scowl on Jaina's face melted into a half-smile, and she leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. "Thanks, Kyp," she said, rising to her feet. "You're not half bad as a Master, you know that?" 

His cheek still tingling from where her lips had, for a fleeting second, touched his skin, Kyp only rolled his eyes, and she departed wordlessly, her step considerably lighter than it had been when she arrived in his cabin, but that didn't exactly reassure him. 

Reaching after her with the Force, he tried to catch some inkling of what she was up to, of what was going on under her bright facade, but her shields kept him at bay, once again raised to their fullest.

That was even more worrying.

If he couldn't sense what was going on with her, if he couldn't read her, how was he supposed to find a way to pull her back from the darkness where she'd begun to tread? How was he supposed to save her?

And more importantly, if he couldn't save her, how was he supposed to stop her?


	9. Chapter 9

A gloved hand pressed against the cool surface of the transparisteel, his eyes stared out at the stars in the distance, but he didn't really see them.

He was looking beyond them now, to some great horizon that was just out of sight, searching for answers.

As of late, answers had been few and far between, little more than vague impressions coming to him across the vast expanse of the Force. It was frustrating and disheartening, but he didn't let himself dwell on the absence of clarity, choosing instead to focus on what he was being shown.

_A cold breeze in a place of shadows... darkness falling like a veil... light fading into night..._

It was not a happy knowledge he had been given.

Drawing back into himself, Luke Skywalker sighed, letting his hand fall from the transparisteel and turning away from the stars beyond it.

"Luke?" 

Hearing the concern in her voice, Luke smiled in his wife's direction, a smile that came easier when his gaze fell upon their infant son seated in her lap, playing with lose strands of her fiery red hair.

"It's nothing," he assured her wearily. "I was just thinking."

Mara didn't seem to believe him, her green eyes narrowed in skepticism, but she didn't say anything about it. She was perfectly aware of what had been haunting him as of late, even without the strength of their Force bond, for those same things had been haunting her as well.

The strike mission he'd sent a handful of young Jedi on to Myrkr... the losses they had suffered there... the fall of Coruscant... the close shave they'd had with Ben, nearly losing him to the Yuuzhan Vong... the breaking of their family... the division among the Jedi...

Anakin. 

Jacen.

Jaina.

It was the last three that plagued his thoughts the most.

"Oww," Mara cried suddenly, her features twisted into a grimace as she tried to pry a clump of her hair out of Ben's chubby little fist. "Ben, let go of Mommy's hair..."

Despite himself, Luke smiled at the sight, and by the time his wife had untangled her hair from their son's hand, who now looked thoroughly irritated with her for taking away his 'toy', he had to bite his lip to keep from chuckling.

"Now I know why Leia always wore her hair up," Mara muttered.

"I don't think you have the patience to put yours up in those intricate hairstyles that she used to favor," Luke informed her sympathetically, but at the same time he felt a dull ache in his chest. It had been a long time since he'd last seen his sister muster the time or energy to mess with her hair, and now it was cut shorter than he'd ever imagined she could tolerate wearing it, after both she and Jaina had been forced to shave their heads for decontamination on Duro a year prior.

It wasn't just Leia that had changed since the start of this war, though, the entire galaxy was a different place these days.

And he wasn't sure he liked the direction it was heading.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Mara asked him, bouncing Ben on her knee to keep him happy, and if his giggling smile was any indication, her efforts were more than paying off.

"About what?"

Though she didn't take her eyes off of their son, Luke knew he was being glared at through the Force.

"About Anakin?" Mara suggested evenly. "Or about Jacen? Or Jaina?"

For a moment, Luke was overcome by a need to unburden his troubles on her, to spill all of the guilt and grief and fear he was harboring into her hands and beg her to tell him what to do to make it better, to make everything right again.

"No," he said at last. "I don't want to talk about it."

"I see," Mara said, and he recognized the silky undertones as a sign of her displeasure. "Well, that's just too vaping bad, isn't it? Because I want to talk about it. I need to talk about, Luke, and so do you."

Turning away from her, Luke pressed his lips together in a tight line, not wanting to admit the truth of her words. He did need to talk about it, he knew that he did, but the wound was still too fresh and too deep, there hadn't been time to come to terms with it all yet.

Both of his nephews, his apprentices, were dead.

One mission had claimed them both, along with half of their strike team, and he had been the one to send them to their deaths.

"You aren't to blame, Luke," Mara told him softly, picking up on his thoughts. "It wasn't your fault."

"I sent them, Mara," Luke replied quietly, his chest aching with a relentless and heavy pain he couldn't escape. "I knew it was dangerous, knew it was _crazy_, and I sent them just the same."

"It wasn't crazy," Mara argued, rising to her feet and moving across the room to place Ben down in his hoverpen before turning back to face him. "It was necessary. The voxyn were too big of a threat not to do something about them, and Anakin's plan worked. They destroyed the cloning labs and the voxyn queen, and now the voxyn that were already cloned are starting to die out."

"The price was too high," Luke murmured.

"Yes," Mara agreed somberly, her green eyes glistening with a sheen of tears. "The price was too high. Losing Anakin and Jacen was too much. But they died doing what Jedi do, protecting and serving, and they wouldn't want you to be blaming yourself, Luke."

"I know," he responded evenly. "But I blame myself just the same." 

Anakin and Jacen had been his nephews, children that he loved as his own and had helped his sister and brother-in-law raise over the years. After their graduation from the Academy, he had taken them both on as apprentices, finding it remarkably easy to train them at the same time, despite their warring philosophies and the inevitable arguements that those philosophies always led to. They had both been so talented, so strong in the Force, such capable Jedi, and he had been prouder of them than of anything he had accomplished in his life.

But he had not been able to protect them.

The logical part of his brain, the part of him that revolved around Jedi wisdom, knew that he couldn't keep them safe forever. His boys, all three of the Solo children, really, had been forced to grow up fast, it was hard to retain childlike innocence when there were always people trying to kill you even before you're even born. They had been trained as Jedi, instilled with all the knowledge and teachings that the Order had to offer, and they'd been armed with the Force.

_I had to let them go,_ he realized sadly. _Whether to Myrkr or to the other side of the galaxy, I had to let them go._

Just as he had to let Jaina go now.

Her fate, in some ways, hit him even more forcefully than the deaths of her brothers. To lose a child to death was a terrible, terrible tragedy, but to lose one to darkness...

Now Luke knew how Obi-Wan Kenobi must have felt all those years ago when he first realized what path his father had chosen to take.

He felt Mara's arms wrap around his waist from behind, and she pressed her cheek against his shoulder, her red hair falling against the side of his face. She didn't speak, and they stood like that in silence for a long moment, their battered spirits taking comfort in one another, communicating a terrible grief that neither of them was willing to speak aloud for fear of what admitting it might mean.

"I hate myself for leaving her," Mara confessed in a desolate whisper, and Luke sensed the guilt swelling within her, felt it mingling with his own, tinged with unspoken fears and long-buried dreads.

"We had to get Ben," he repeated the words he'd been telling himself over and over lately aloud. "He was our first priority at the moment." 

"And I feel horrible because of that," Mara sighed, her composure faltering a little through the Force. "She's my apprentice, Luke... I should be there on Hapes, trying to help her find her way back from wherever it is that her pain has taken her." 

"I think," Luke said slowly. "That this is something Jaina has to figure out on her own."

"Is that the Force talking?" Mara inquired. "Or just uncle intuition?"

"A little of both, actually," Luke replied with a faint smile. "Jaina's destiny is unclear at the moment, she's turning on the edge of a vibroblade... if we intervene, we might push her in the wrong direction."

When she didn't reply, he wasn't surprised, and he felt her turning inward, seeking guidance from the Force herself on the matter. He wasn't bothered by what appeared to be her lack of faith in his judgment, on the contrary, it warmed his heart to know that she loved their niece as much as he did.

Mara hadn't officially joined the family until the twins were ten years old, but she had been a familiar face, in and out of their lives ever since they were born, even saving the Solo children's lives on more than one occasion. By the time that Luke had finally gotten some sense knocked into him, and it took a life-or-death situation at that, Jaina had been more than excited about the prospect of gaining an aunt, and Mara, despite her initial misgivings about suddenly accumulating a large family, had been touched by the girl's enthusiasm.

The next few years had been interesting, with Luke moving back and forth between the praxeum on Yavin Four and the unofficial Jedi headquarters on Coruscant, while Mara preferred to travel the galaxy, accompanying some of the less seasoned Jedi Knights on missions when she wasn't working with Mirax Terrik.

And then her illness had struck.

It had been a frightening time for their entire family, as they were helpless to do anything but watch Mara struggle against the debilitating disease, with no clue where it had come from or how to cure it. Much later, they had learned it was a Yuuzhan Vong bio-posion, which she had been exposed to by Nom Anor before any of them had even heard of the soon-to-be invaders.

For a long time Mara had thought the Yuuzhan Vong disease ravaging her body would prevent them from ever having children of their own, but Luke knew that she had taken comfort in Jaina. Upon finishing her training at the Academy, Jaina had been hesitant to ask Mara to take her on as an apprentice, worried that it would be asking too much of her aunt when Mara was expending so much of her strength and energy battling her disease, but Mara had been staunchly determined that she was up to the task. 

"And I wasn't," Mara whispered, sounding more frail than she ever had, even during the peak of her illness. "I've failed in her training, and now we've lost her to the dark side." 

"No, Mara, no," Luke said, turning and taking her face in his hands to look her right in the eye. "Jaina's fall is not your fault. You trained her better than I could have ever hoped, helped turn her into a remarkable young Jedi. Pain, grief... sometimes they just cause people to lose sight of what's important, of what's right. Jaina hasn't consciously chosen to journey the dark path, I'm not even sure she's admitted what she's doing to herself yet. She's just hurting, and as wrong as she knows vengeance is, she wants to make her brothers' deaths count for something."

For a long moment, green eyes bored into blue ones, as if searching for some sort of cosmic answer to the terrible dilemma before them.

"Do you think Leia is ever going to accept that Jacen is dead?" Mara asked at last.

Luke recognized a change of subject when he heard one, and though he knew she hadn't entirely believed him when he absolved her of any responsibility involving Jaina's slip to the dark side, he was willing to let it go for now. No doubt they would venture onto that subject again in the coming weeks, and in time she would come to realize that it was true.

"In time," Luke replied quietly, his heart wrenching for his sister. "I think she's just in shock. To lose both of her sons, in the same day..."

"Leia is so strong," Mara murmured, and there was genuine respect and awe in her voice. "She's had so much taken from her, but she never wavers."

It was true, Leia had lost so much that she loved... their mother, whom Leia had a half-forgotten flash of memory of, a father that she had never gotten the chance to know and yet loved enough to forgive him and name her youngest son after him, her foster family the Organas, her beloved homeworld, countless friends and allies, the Republic she had worked so hard to rebuild from the ashes of the Empire...

And now her children had been taken from her, as well, Jaina just as surely as her brothers, and by something infinitely worse than death. 

_Our family has suffered so much,_ Luke thought sorrowfully, his sister's distant pain crying out inside of him, a dull but constant ache now, ever present and never fading. They had not grown up together, so they had never spoken whole conversations finishing each other's every thought, they had not taken their first steps together and celebrated double birthdays, but their was a closeness just as unique and just as strong as what Jaina had shared with Jacen.

If the mere thought of losing Leia was enough to twist every fiber of his being in anguish, then it must have been utterly unbearable for Jaina. She had lost her twin, her other half, and she had also lost her little brother, of whom she had always been fiercely protective and loving.

Both of them gone in the blink of an eye.

Anakin's death had shaken Luke's very being, shaken him so badly that Mara, who had been grieving herself after feeling their nephew's star burn out, had been forced to order him to shut his presence down in the Force, less he permanently scar Ben through the Force bond he shared with his son.

Reminding him of his son, his tiny, helpless little son, had given Luke the clarity to shunt his pain aside and focus on what had to be done, but it had not done anything to soothe the gaping hole within him.

And then Jacen, too, had been stolen from him, ripped out of him so suddenly and so violently that he had not been able to breathe. 

Across some great distance of space, he had felt the first stirrings of Jaina's fury after Anakin's death, but with the battle for Coruscant taking place around him, Luke had not been able to allow himself to dwell on it much. From what Zekk had told him, though, Jaina had blamed Jacen for abandoning Anakin to die, words he knew she would be regretting now that her twin was dead, but what had disturbed him the most about Zekk's report was that Jaina had been hurling Force lightning at the Yuuzhan Vong aboard the worldship. 

Losing Jacen, too, so soon after Anakin, had only compounded her grief and driven her into a cold frenzy that still echoed around her in the Force.

_She is a daughter of Skywalker,_ Luke mused grimly, his deepest fears stirring. He knew what his niece could be capable of if she chose to continue down this path, the shadow of his father's legacy had haunted his dreams the entire span of her life.

If Jaina followed in her grandfather's footsteps, she had the potential to become an even greater enemy than the Yuuzhan Vong.

"Don't think like that," Mara said sharply, green eyes narrowed with fire. "She's our niece." 

"She's also the granddaughter of Darth Vader," Luke pointed out softly.

"Jaina is a Jedi."

"As was my father, once."

After a defiant beat, Mara looked away, troubled, and Luke sighed, rubbing a hand over the stubble growing on his chin as he followed her gaze to their son in his hoverpen. The turmoil of the past week had begun to unravel them both, and if they were going to get through this, they would have to lean on one another, all of them, as a family.

"I wonder sometimes," Mara murmured, wrapping her arms around herself. "What kind of galaxy Ben is going to grow up in."

"As do I," Luke said.

"The galaxy has changed so much since we were kids, Luke," she responded worriedly. "It's changed so much since Jaina was a child. Even when this war ends, even if we win, I don't think the galaxy will ever be the same." 

"Something better will rise from the ashes," Luke reasoned, with optimism he wasn't sure he really felt these days. "Just as the New Republic did after we defeated the Empire that destroyed the Old Republic."

"And what if the Jedi don't survive the transition?" Mara demanded.

"Not even the Emperor could wipe us out completely," Luke pointed out wearily. "We have to have faith in the Force, and believe that the Jedi will prevail in the end, like always."

"I wish I had your confidence," Mara said with a weak smile, her green eyes dim with shadows. "We've already lost so many... and they've been young, Luke. Too young."

"Death knows no discrimination of age, Mara," he reminded her gently.

"Six at Myrkr," Mara told him bluntly. "Six, not including Anakin and Jacen, and all of them hardly two decades old."

"I know," Luke sighed again. "I know."

The Jedi strike team had managed to destroy the voxyn queen and the cloning labs, an act which had saved an untold number of lives, but the cost had been high. Less than half of the team had returned from Myrkr, and those that had returned had come back changed by their experiences there.

Bela Hara, Jovan Drark, Eryl Besa, Ulah Kore, Raynar Thul, and Krasov Hara had all fallen alongside Anakin and Jacen on that mission, and each of them was remembered as a hero, having given their lives for the Order and for the Force. But the survivors, Ganner Rhysode, Tenel Ka, Tahiri Veila, Alema Rar, Zekk, Lowbacca, Tesar Sebatyne and Jaina, all bore the scars of their experiences.

They were a living reminder of what fighting the Yuuzhan Vong had cost the Jedi.

Out of the eight young Jedi who had died on the mission to Myrkr, only Anakin's body had been recovered, and Luke did not want to think about how ruthlessly, how viciously, Jaina had fought to bring him home to her parents.

The other seven, Jacen included, had not even been able to receive the honor of a proper Jedi funeral.

And Luke felt as if he had failed each and every one of them.

"Jaina almost didn't come to Anakin's funeral," Mara commented quietly. "Did Leia tell you that?"

Nodding, Luke looked away from Ben, who was too busy playing with the X-wing mobile overhead to worry about the somber mood in the room. "If Kyp hadn't essentially kidnapped her from the palace, I doubt she would have come at all." 

From the light that flickered in her eyes, it was clear that this was the very topic she had been waiting to broach with him. "We both know she didn't mean it when she told Zekk she was going to stay on Hapes as Kyp's apprentice," she said evenly. "But I'm worried just the same. I don't think hanging around with Kyp Durron is going to have a positive affect on her right now, not with her state of mind."

"Funny," Luke murmured. "I'm more concerned about the affect it will have on Kyp."

To her credit, Mara didn't react incredulously, just arched her eyebrow. 

"I can't explain it," Luke said, shaking his head. "It's just a feeling, really. A glimmering of something on the horizon... I just know that while Jaina's future is divided between two paths, overlapping and intertwining here and there, Kyp will soon have to make a choice."

"And you fear he'll make the wrong one?"

"This is Kyp we're talking about," Luke pointed out with a weak smile.

"You have a point there," Mara agreed grimly. "So what now? What do we do?" 

"Nothing," Luke pronounced, and it was the hardest decision he'd ever had to make, but he knew, somehow, it was the right one. "The Force hasn't given me much to go on with this, but anytime I see us trying to intervene- you, Han, Leia or I- it ends in disaster. Kyp's fate is directly tied to Jaina's now, we have to trust that she'll find her way back somehow."

Mara bit her lip, deeply unsettled by his words, but she didn't argue with him about it. Most likely, she, too, had sought some guidance from the Force on this subject since their departure from Hapes, and she'd come to relatively the same conclusion, whether she was willing to admit it or not.

"I don't like this," she said at last.

"Neither do I, love," Luke murmured, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close. "Neither do I."


	10. Chapter 10

It had just been one day.

Upon returning to Hapes, Kyp Durron had taken it upon himself to keep watch over the Hapan pilot as he recovered from his ordeal in a hidden bacta tank, far away from prying eyes, and he had mistakenly believed that Jaina would be able to stay out of trouble for this short period of time, that he could afford to not watch her every move for a little while longer.

After all, it was only a day.

Now trailing Seth, also known as Vanguard Four, into the hangar, Kyp took a few deep breaths, making a halfhearted attempt at a Jedi calming technique, but it did little to diminish the outraged anger coursing through him, and he didn't care in the least.

_Jaina! _he bellowed through the Force. _Get in here this instant!_

He continued his furious summons for his 'apprentice' as he powered down his X-wing, vowing to beat some sense into the girl with her own lightsaber if necessary. 

It shouldn't have surprised him that she had been sending up pilots, including his pilots, on suicide missions, not after what he'd seen her do on Gallinore just a few days prior, but it had. Some part of him, despite his realization that she was dancing with the dark side, had not believed she could show such a callous disregard for human life.

But now he couldn't help remembering the detachment he'd seen from her in Sinsor Khal's lab, the way she had willingly stood by and watched as the Hapan pirate had been 'tested' to near death and back over and over.

As soon as the Ni'Korish had come out of the bacta tank, Kyp wiped his memories and sent him on his way, ensuring his escape, but he didn't feel nearly as uneasy about releasing a pirate now as he had at the beginning of Jaina's little mission to Gallinore. After everything that Crimpler had endured there, he supposed the man was entitled to do as much pillaging as his greedy little heart wanted.

_Jaina! _he shouted, projecting his fury in her direction as he vaulted out of his X-wing. _Get. In. Here. Now._

"You don't have to shout," a cool female voice called from the wings of the hangar, and he turned to see Jaina calmly striding into the room, indifference and unconcern etched across her soft features, giving her a surprisingly ruthless appearance.

She bypassed Kyp entirely, not even giving him a spare glance, and moved in on Seth as the Hapan pilot made for the doors, clearly anxious to get as far away from here as possible.

"Did you get any?" she asked the surviving pilot, with blatant disregard for the fact that only one of the 'scouts' she had sent up had returned alive.

"One," Seth paused to answer tersely, glancing at Kyp as he passed. "Maybe." 

Jaina nodded and turned away, but Kyp grabbed her by the arm and jerked her back to face him, none too gently, and her angry gaze locked with his own. Neither of them spoke, both glaring daggers at one another, and Kyp couldn't help cursing that Solo temperament. 

As soon as he'd found time to retreat to his tent in the refugee camp late the night before, he'd found a message waiting for him from none other than Princess Leia herself, which in itself had put him on edge. After hearing her story about the brawl Han had been goaded into by Hapan guards, which had ended when Zekk arrived and knocked them out, and the fractured skull his old friend had suffered for it, Kyp was even more certain that something very wrong was going on here on Hapes.

The fact that Leia had requested he keep a close eye on Jaina only told him that she sensed it, too.

It was a rare thing for Leia Solo to express faith of any kind in him, much less to ask a favor, especially one so important, so Kyp was determined to see her wish done. If he had to flank Jaina every waking moment from here on out, he was more than prepared to do so. 

At the moment, though, he would have preferred it if Jaina hadn't inherited her mother's stubbornness.

They continued their staredown for another few heartbeats, and then Jaina looked away. "They're gathering data," she said at last, the first to concede. "Important data."

"How many pilots have you sent up?" Kyp demanded sharply, cursing himself for not watching her more closely since their return from Gallinore, for not paying attention to what she'd been up to over the past day while he was busy attending to Crimpler. "How many returned?" 

"Most likely a higher percentage than those from your command," Jaina shot back venomously.

"People die in war," Kyp retorted bluntly. "I accept that, and so do the pilots who fly with me. But I never deliberately threw their lives away. How good is your tracking data?"

"Getting better," she said defensively.

"So you had a good idea how many skips were patrolling the sector," Kyp concluded, clenching his jaw as his fury doubled. "And you sent up two men."

Two.

Not even Darth Vader would have been so careless.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, Kyp's stomach dropped, but he didn't have time to dwell on it, because he'd put Jaina back on the defensive again.

"We don't have enough of the implants yet, or the delivery weapons, to justify sending up more," Jaina argued coldly, her dark eyes bitter and accusing, full of too many truths and painful answers to consider at the moment. "You would have made the same decision." 

"Which brings us to the next issue," Kyp said, purposefully ignoring her claim and his uncertainty that he could argue otherwise. "Those pilots apparently think I ordered this mission."

"You used my name and influence when it suited you," Jaina pointed with a snarky smirk, shrugging her slender shoulders with casual smugness. "I'm here to learn from the master."

There it was again, the reminder of what he'd done at Sernpidal, the way he'd manipulated her with the Force to get her to help him with his plans to destroy a worldship, convincing her that it had been a superweapon of some kind. It had been all too easy to fill her with dread, just a simple tweak to remind her of the Death Star and her mother's homeworld of Alderaan, and of what the Yuuzhan Vong had already done to Ithor, and she had been more than ready to help him achieve his goals.

Did he regret having to resort to such methods? Of course, he'd always been fond of Jaina and using her had never been something he was proud of. But did he regret the outcome of the situation?

That was a more difficult question, one which made every reprimand he gave Jaina sound hollow and more than a little hypocritical. How could he be an effective teacher, when for every mistake she made, she could cite two of his own that were too similar for comfort?

For the first time, he was beginning to realize just what a frustration he must have been to Luke Skywalker.

An approaching presence, cool and regal, filled his senses, and he looked up to find a tall, slender woman moving toward them, dressed in a deep purple gown with violet sashes, the very best in Hapan finery. She looked younger than she was, of that he was certain, and she'd retained much of the beauty of her youth, as well as the fluid movements. There was a faint, and distorted, echo of Tenel Ka about her in the Force, but her presence was layered with shadow and deceit, whereas the Hapan princess was clear and open to him.

Whoever she was, a nod from her brought guards hurrying to dispel the small crowd of pilots and mechanics that had gathered on the perimeter, and Jaina straightened upon spotting her coming their way.

"Difficult times call for hard decisions, young man," the older woman said sternly. "Selecting a leader is a difficult thing, and should never be done lightly. Once done, however, a constant second-guessing of a leader is worse than having no leader at all."

Taken aback by her intrusion into private Jedi matters, and the condescending, lecturing tone in her voice, Kyp blinked and turned to Jaina for an explanation. "Who is this?" he demanded. 

"The former queen of Hapes," she answered curtly, inclining her head in a show of respect. "Ta'a Chume, this is Kyp Durron, Jedi Master. He's training me."

For some reason the woman found this idea amusing, and Kyp decided right then and there that he liked her less than he liked the Yuuzhan Vong. There was something about her that rubbed him the wrong way, and the interest he sensed she had in Jaina sent chills down his spine that he couldn't really explain.

This woman was trouble.

"If you have anything worthwhile to impart," Ta'a Chume told him, lifting her nose. "Then I suggest you stop whining and get to it."

Indignant, Kyp clenched his jaw, calling on every last ounce of his Jedi control, and kept his silence.

With a thin smile, mistaking his silence for a small victory in her favor, the former queen turned to Jaina, speaking with a sense of familiarity that set him on edge. "I will be offworld for a day or so," Ta'a Chume informed her. "But we will speak again upon my return."

Without waiting for a reply, she glided off again, and Kyp waited until she'd disappeared from the hangar, taking the guards with her, before he drew Jaina aside, now more worried than ever.

Jaina seemed to sense the uneasiness that Ta'a Chume had bred within him, because she gave him an ironic smile and folded her arms over her chest, suddenly looking more like her father than ever. "Don't worry," she said smoothly. "I know she's up to something, and I know she's using me."

"Do you?" Kyp narrowed his eyes appraisingly. "And are you using her in return?"

"We need supplies to fight the Vong," Jaina pointed out with a shrug, not denying it. "Ships, pilots, weaponry... Ta'a Chume can provide all of that and more. I don't know exactly what she's got up her sleeve, but whatever it is, I'm not interested."

"No?" Kyp questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I fight my own battles," Jaina said shortly. "And I don't like political intrigue. As long as she's a useful ally, I'm not going to turn down her help, but she expects too much if she thinks I'm going to return the favor somewhere down the road."

"I see," Kyp murmured, and despite himself, he was partly relieved by her words.

He had enough to worry about on her behalf without having to watch out for Ta'a Chume, as well.

Still, in the future he would be keeping a watchful eye on any interaction the former queen of Hapes had with his apprentice. Just because Jaina was aware of the games the woman was playing, didn't make her games any less dangerous.

And if anything, it only made the ones Jaina was playing in return all the more potent.

"You said you were here to learn," Kyp told her gruffly, jabbing a finger in her direction. "Listen and see if you can wrap your mind around this: from now on, anything you do will be cleared through me. You will not assume that my actions, past of present, justify yours." 

"Oh, please," Jaina scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Next thing I know you'll be telling me, 'Do as I say, not as I do'."

"That's the general idea, yeah," Kyp confirmed, folding his arms.

The sneer fell from her lips, replaced with a startled expression that would have been amusing in any other situation, it wasn't often that he was able to take her by surprise like that these days.

"You're serious?" 

"As a thermal detonator," he said, nodding sharply. "Start filling me in."

"Fine- a quick recap, then," Jaina agreed with a weary sigh, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear, a mannerism that made her seem younger somehow, like the girl he'd known before the invasion began. "A yammosk communicates with smaller ships through some sort of telepathy. The daughter ships move, shield and navigate through gravitic fluctuations. These are both created and received by the dovin basal. Each of these creatures has a genetic imprint, a distinct and unique voice that's formed by its gravitic signals. When the dovin basal picks up information, they know what ship originated it." 

_Interesting,_ Kyp mused to himself. _This has potential._

"You with me so far?" Jaina asked, mocking light in her dark eyes.

Kyp nodded. "Go on." 

"Danni Quee discovered how to jam a yammosk signal: we took that one step further," she continued, lifting her chin proudly. "Lowbacca was able to isolate and define the pattern of the _Trickster_'s gravitic signature. The pattern is very subtle, but right now we can disrupt it using the coral implants." 

"Yeah, I just saw that demonstrated," Kyp noted darkly.

"We've learned a lot from the skips we've managed to mess up," Jaina insisted, as if that made everything okay, and the disturbing thing was that he knew in her eyes, it did. "What we're trying to do now is get the skip so confused that it loses contact with the yammosk altogether."

"I'd say you're there," Kyp informed her, thinking back on the total chaos he'd witnessed up in space with the Yuuzhan Vong skips terrorizing Seth and the other Hapan pilot.

"Next step, then," Jaina said, pleased to hear that. "All skips seem to fly and shield in pretty much the same way. It's the navigation that depends on unique information. Lowbacca has been working on a small mechanical device, a repulsor, that could mimic the _Trickster_'s gravitic code. This would overlay another ship's 'voice', letting us create decoys that will lure the Vong into traps."

"Ambush by trickery," Kyp observed, and her eyes glittered as she nodded.

"The Yuuzhan Vong are looking for the _Trickster_," Jaina reminded him with a slow, predatory smirk. "We're going to make sure they find and destroy her- not once, but several times."

Kyp stared at her for a long moment, then let out a slow whistle. "It's good," he conceded. "I'm in."

Her answering smile reminded him of a Tusken wildcat. "Lead on, Master."

There was something almost mocking in her words, although her tone was carefully neutral, and Kyp was unsettled as he led the way to the private hangar where the Yuuzhan Vong frigate that Jaina had stolen in her escape from the worldship over Myrkr was being kept.

He was surprised to find it empty, and he had a sudden prickling along his neck, a tingle in the Force, as he noted the Wookiee Jedi's absence, but when he inquired about it to Jaina, all he got was a sense of weariness from her.

"Lowie went back to Kashyyk," she replied, opening the portal door and ducking inside. "He's trying to recruit some of the Wookiee techs there to come back with him to help us work on figuring out our experimental technology for combating the Yuuzhan Vong." 

Following her inside, Kyp looked around for the first time, his eyes raking over the coral hull and living attachments on the rocky walls as the spongy floor beneath his feet rippled faintly. This was the first time he'd been inside of an enemy ship with the time to actually study it, and he found it wasn't nearly as repulsive as he had been expecting.

"Impressive, isn't she?" Jaina asked, and he looked up to find her leaning in a coral doorway, looking about the ship proudly. "She belonged to Nom Anor before I took it from him."

"Nom Anor?" Kyp echoed in surprise. "Really?"

Jaina nodded, lips curving up in smug satisfaction. "He was... extremely displeased," she said with a wry chuckle. "It seems the very idea of a mere infidel like me flying upon a living ship, much less his own, is offending."

"Infidel, huh?" Kyp smirked. "I thought you were a goddess now."

She snorted, turning and continuing further into the ship, and he followed.

"This whole goddess thing is for their benefit," she informed him as she led him into an open area where a pair of villips sat on a smooth rock table, which seemed to grow up out of the floor, as if it was just another part of the ship. "Not mine."

"Sure," Kyp said dryly, watching her as she lowered herself down at the table, lifting a villip into her hand for inspection. "I'm sure it's such a hassle being a deity."

"Hey, you think it's easy simultaneously inspiring fear and reverence?" Jaina retorted.

"I imagine it's hard work," Kyp played along, leaning against the coral wall.

"Exhausting, really," Jaina said, tossing a lighthearted grin at him from over the villip. "And the unfortunate thing about being an immortal is there's no retirement plan."

Shaking his head, Kyp chuckled as she went back to work, focusing her attention on the villip in her hands, although what she was hoping to achieve with it, he wasn't sure. For a moment there, he'd seen a glimmer of the old Jaina, and it had been nice.

He wanted to see that side of her more.

While she was distracted by the villip, he took the opportunity to study her without her knowing it. She hadn't been in a set of Jedi robes in weeks now, not since Anakin's funeral, but she was at least wearing the tunic and leggings, and her dark hair fell across her face as she worked. For a time, it was as if she'd forgotten he was there, she was so caught up in tinkering with the living ship, and the cold durasteel walls between them fell away. 

He still couldn't get a very good read on her, her powers were formidable enough to keep him out even without any real conscious effort, but she was a little less jagged around the edges now, a little less harsh.

No less dangerous, of course, both to him and to herself, but it was reassuring to see her let her guard down for once.

Maybe she was starting to warm up to him, to trust him again. If their experiences on Gallinore had served to gain her trust, then maybe it had been worth it after all.

Because if he was going to save her, she was going to have to trust him first.

"Could you use some help working on this hunk of rock?" he found himself asking, and when Jaina looked up at him in surprise, he cleared his throat. "I mean, even between running the Vanguards and spending some time working on your training- which we need to start brushing up on, by the way- I've got some spare time to kill, and maybe having an extra set of hands around will give you time to discover the rest of her secrets." 

Jaina gazed at him appraisingly for a long moment, and he actually shifted, feeling as if she was looking right through him somehow, seeing into the deepest, most hidden corners of his soul. 

"First of all," she said, rising to her feet. "Stop calling my ship a 'hunk of rock'."

"Would you prefer large piece of coral?" Kyp quipped.

"Secondly," Jaina continued, ignoring him. "If you're serious about pitching in, that's fine. Like you said, I can always use an extra set of hands. But this is my ship, Durron. You may be the Master out there, but in here, I'm in charge, got it?"

"Got it," Kyp promised evenly.

"All right, then," Jaina said, tossing him a multitool from the tool pouch on the floor. "There's a tear in the wall of the back coral alcove- the frigate's version of cabins. Get to work."

"Your wish is my command, Goddess," he said, executing a wry bow before starting off in that direction. He felt her eyes on him as he left, and he knew she was wondering why he'd suddenly volunteered to help out with the repairs on the _Trickster_.

The thing was, he was wondering the same thing himself.

He wanted to tell himself it was because the best way to pull Jaina back from the dark side was to stick close to her, to get her to spend as much time in his company as possible, but it would have only been a partial truth. 

The fact was, even after everything she'd done, even after what he'd seen her do on Gallinore, he just wanted to be near her. 

And that, more than anything else, made him wonder if he was in over his head.


	11. Chapter 11

"Shavit." 

Dropping the multitool to the floor, Kyp Durron sighed, rocking back on his heels, and rested his forehead against the coral wall in front of him, tempted to pound his head on it.

He had never claimed to be much of a mechanic, but he usually managed fairly well, with the Force guiding him as he worked. That wasn't possible with a Yuuzhan Vong frigate, the living ship was closed off to him through the Force, and he found that it was much more difficult than he'd expected.

It only made him even more impressed with Jaina's inherent mechanical instincts, that she moved about the coral hull as if she'd been born working on the enemy ships.

Every once and a while, something would stump her and she'd mutter under her breath in frustration, showing off a wide range of Huttesse curse words that even Kyp couldn't follow completely, but where he would have given up and started working on something else, Jaina kept at it, and always found a way to figure out how to manipulate the ship's complicated organic structure.

Manipulation, he was beginning to realize, was one of her hidden strengths.

"Having trouble?" an amused voice asked.

Lifting his head, Kyp found Jaina Solo watching him from the other side of alcove where she was tinkering with a series of veiny tubes that she'd explained were like the wiring of the ship, an eyebrow raised and a smile etched on her lips as she observed his frustration.

"This ship hates me," Kyp informed her. "It's evil."

"Right," Jaina snorted, rolling her eyes. "I'm sure."

"No, really," he insisted. "I've spent the last thirty minutes trying to get this chipped panel to accept the graft you took from the underbelly of the ship, and it keeps shocking me."

"It's not shocking you, actually," Jaina retorted. "It's stinging you."

"Is there a difference?" Kyp grumbled. 

"I'm sure the Yuuzhan Vong would tell you there is," she answered with a lopsided smirk. "Why don't you ask them, there's an observation fleet hanging around the outer edges of the system?"

"You're just trying to get me killed," Kyp accused.

"Like you need my help to get into deadly situations?" Jaina scoffed, and he shot her an irritated look. "What? It's the truth, and you know it."

"You're one to talk, Goddess."

Jaina shrugged, neither able to or interested in debating that point. They both knew he was right, attracting mortal peril was just one of those Skywalker quirks that no one in her family could ever seem to escape. People had been trying to kill her and her brothers even before they were out of their mother's womb, it was just another fact of life to the Solo children, which they took in stride, and Kyp had always been both impressed and saddened by that.

He knew firsthand what it was like to have people who wanted you dead, but in his case, he'd actually done things to warrant those sentiments. Jaina, Jacen and Anakin had been targets simply because of their family tree.

_Then again,_ he thought to himself. _The same would have been true of their mother and Master Skywalker, had anyone discovered the truth about their paternity._

After all, hadn't that been the reason why Obi-Wan Kenobi separated the infant twins, sending to the opposite corners of the galaxy and into hiding, less their father Darth Vader, or worse, the Emperor, find out about their existence and seek to turn them into agents of the dark side?

Others had desired to do the same with the Solo children, knowing the potency of the Skywalker blood within them, but not even the traitorous Brakiss had been able to turn them away from the light, while holding both of the Solo twins captive at his Shadow Academy. Having trained alongside the charismatic young man on Yavin Four, Kyp knew that Brakiss was highly skilled in subterfuge and manipulation, but the grandchildren of Darth Vader had resisted the call to follow in their grandfather's footsteps.

The irony of it all, that Jaina had not wavered even while surrounded by the dark side, only to find herself wandering astray now, did not escape his observations. 

"You don't have to do this, you know," Jaina said, cutting into his thoughts.

"Do what?" he inquired. 

"Help me with the _Trickster_," Jaina replied evenly. "Lowie's been gone for over a week now, and I know you have a lot of responsibilities with Vanguard Squadron. I can manage on my own for a few days until he gets back."

"What?" Kyp asked wryly. "Trying to get rid of me?"

"Constantly," Jaina shot back with a smirk. "But you're worse than the Vong, you just won't go away."

"Is that any way to talk to your Master?"

Instead of rising to the bait, Jaina just shrugged, shaking her head slightly to get her loose braid to fall back over her shoulder. "I just don't want you wasting time here that you could be spending up with the Vanguards patrolling the sector for Yuuzhan Vong," she explained. "Force knows someone has to keep an eye out for them."

She had a point, a very good point, but Kyp sensed something else behind her words, some underlying ulterior motive for wanting to keep him busy elsewhere.

Keeping his expression carefully schooled into a look of amusement, he reached out with a wraith tendril of the Force, gently seeping inward towards her thoughts, moving as discreetly as possible, like a breeze so soft it didn't even move blades of grass. 

Jaina kept right on talking, expressing her frustration with the Yuuzhan Vong poking their noses around the edges of the system but not making any offensive movements yet, and Kyp relied on the Force to file her words away, nodding at the appropriate times even though he wasn't really aware of what she was saying. His own powers were impressive, perhaps the most impressive in the Order, although Jaina would scoff at that if she heard him claiming such a thing, and remind him, as she had once already, that Luke Skywalker was more than capable of putting him in his place.

A possibility, he would admit.

Despite the strength of the Force within him, Kyp treaded lightly as he entered her mind, because he knew that if any Jedi could sense his presence and throw him out, most likely with as much violence as she could muster, it would be Jaina Solo.

Skywalker blood was too thick in her veins. 

Though her thoughts were cloaked, safeguarded behind mist and shadow, he could perceive a faint desire for him to disappear for a few days, and although that stung, more than he was willing to admit, he could sense that it wasn't anything personal.

With Lowbacca still gone on his mission to Kashyyk and Tenel Ka busy with her royal duties, as well as tending to her ailing mother, Jaina had simply been hoping to have some time to herself.

Time to grieve for her brothers and to come to terms with what had happened at Myrkr.

Feeling a little guilty for invading her privacy, and for doubting her intentions, Kyp withdrew from her mind slowly, letting his senses fade back to his own perceptions just as Jaina finished whatever she was saying, and gave him a pointed look. 

"What do I think?" Kyp echoed her last words, purposefully making a show of thinking her question over, while he was really calling on the Force to play back what she'd said.

_Hapes Consortium eager to avoid fighting... after Fondor and Centerpoint, animosity for the Jedi and her family... Ta'a Chume willing to supply them with more pilots and ships... best if Vong don't attack yet, so there's time to better prepare... Teneniel Djo too ill to rule... possible to get a Jedi healer to Hapes... assassination attempts on Isolder... Tenel Ka reluctant to become queen... Yuuzhan Vong putting a bounty on her head, livid about the Yun-Harla masquerade..._

"I think," he said slowly. "That as dangerous as this whole goddess scheme is, it has a lot of potential as psychological warfare. We know how obsessed the Yuuzhan Vong are with their religion, even the Shamed Ones from what we've gathered, although based on what Ana- based on what happened at Yavin Four," he amended pitifully, but the damage of almost mentioning her brother's name had already been done.

Something seemed to shut down in Jaina's eyes, the faint trace of warmth and lightness that he'd noticed over the past few days was gone in an instant, replaced by something dark and cold, something that, despite all his pretenses, scared the kriff out of him.

But it passed as quickly as it had come, and that, somehow, worried him even more. 

"I think the Shamed Ones already associate the Jedi with their gods," Jaina said thoughtfully, moving on as if there had never been an awkward pause, as if her heart hadn't just been wrenched and shattered all over again. "If word of my exploits starts to get back to them, then all the better for us."

"How so?" Kyp asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"The Shamed Ones may be at the lowliest level in Yuuzhan Vong society," Jaina replied. "But they're everywhere, and their numbers aren't as small as the Yuuzhan Vong would like us to believe. If they're spreading whispers of heresy in their own ranks, it won't be long before snippets of those rumors reach other, higher ears. If we want to spread discord and fear among the Yuuzhan Vong, the Shamed Ones will be useful."

"That would mean you'd have to take care not to kill any of them in combat," Kyp pointed out skeptically.

"I'd much rather have warriors in my scope anyway," Jaina retorted with a wry smirk. "Besides, the Shamed Ones aren't out on the front lines, it would be as much of an abomination as me flying a living ship."

Nodding, Kyp was more intrigued by the ease with which she dismissed the Shamed Ones as enemies than anything else she had to say. It wasn't much, and maybe he was reading too much into things, but at least she wasn't on some Force forsaken crusade to wipe out every last Yuuzhan Vong in the galaxy.

Yet.

"Just be careful," he advised grimly, locking his gaze with her own. "You're treading in dangerous territory now."

He wasn't just talking about the whole goddess charade, and they both knew it. His warning was of something much more treacherous, something that could cost her much more than just her life.

"You would know," Jaina responded with a cool smile, deliberately vague. "After all, you are the Master."

_And she strikes a low blow, _Kyp chuckled to himself bitterly, feeling the slight sting of her words.

"Anyway," Jaina changed the subject smoothly, and he let her. "There's not nearly as much work left to do on the _Trickster _anymore, barely enough of a job for one person, so you might as well focus on your squadron for now. If I need help, I'll let you know."

"I'm sure you will," Kyp agreed lowly, thinking back to the last time she had asked for his help, and what had followed on Gallinore.

_I guess I have been smothering her this past week,_ though, he conceded to himself begrudgingly. All day, every day for the past week, when the necessary Vanguard duties haven't gotten in the way, he'd been here working on the captured Yuuzhan Vong frigate alongside Jaina.

It had been his intent to keep a close eye on her and her activities, but he hadn't realized until now how much time he was actually spending at her side.

_What time was it when I finally made it back to the refugee camp last night? _he asked himself, and was disgruntled to realize he didn't know, but it had been late, no more than a few hours until the beginning of sunrise. He and Jaina had worked through the night, although there certainly hadn't been any pressing need to do so.

In fact, Kyp could recall at least two times where he had silently observed that it was getting late, but he hadn't wanted to go. He liked spending time with Jaina, in ways that had nothing whatsoever to do with being her Master, or even with watching her for signs of the dark side.

That wasn't very comforting.

"I'll finish up here today, if you don't mind," he told her, gesturing to the panel he was working on. "This thing has been beating me all day, and I'm not going to let it get the satisfaction of chasing me off."

"Whatever you want," Jaina replied, her lips curling up faintly. "Let's just try not to miss dinner tonight, okay?"

"Goddess, if we do," Kyp vowed. "I will personally cook for you." 

"You mean personally press the buttons on the food processor, don't you?" Jaina retorted, her ghost of a smile blossoming into a full smirk.

"Precisely," Kyp confirmed unabashedly.

Rolling her eyes, Jaina flicked her fingers, causing his forgotten multitool to rise into the air in front of him. "Get back to work, mortal," she commanded. 

"I thought the apprentice was supposed to take orders, not give them?" Kyp couldn't resist throwing back at her, and she gave him a warning look, raising the hydrospanner in her hand threateningly.

Chuckling as he turned back to torn panel and the coral graft that he'd placed over it, he wondered what else he could possibly do to make the ship accept it that he hadn't already tried.

_This ship is stubborn,_ he mused. _Just like her pilot._

Maybe if he could figure out how to get the living ship to work with him, he'd be able to figure out how to get through to Jaina, too.

After about fifteen minutes of futile efforts, though, Kyp was beginning to wonder if he was only making things worse.

On both fronts.

"Need some help?" Jaina called wryly.

"I just can't see the vine connections," Kyp said defensively, although he doubted that even remotely had anything to do with it. "The lighting is too dark in here."

"Hmmm."

Rising to her feet, Jaina started to cross the alcove in his direction, placing her hydrospanner down on the coral table and exchanging it for a lumos stick. Her soft boots were silent on the spongy floor, and the formfitting, sleeveless green flightsuit she wore seemed strangely appropriate inside the living ship, complimenting the natural hues of the coral hull as she passed.

"Scoot over," she instructed, and he complied, giving her room to crouch down beside him. "I'll hold the light," she told him, turning it on and pointing the beam towards the shadows enveloping the hole in the hull, instinctively locating the vine connections without even needing to look for them.

Wordlessly, Kyp leaned in next to her, and began trying to get them to mold together with the graft. 

"Try it the other way," Jaina suggested, her breath tickling his cheek as she moved closer, their shoulders touching and the warmth from her body heating his side. "I think the nerve endings need to be exposed in order for it to work."

"Uh, right," Kyp muttered, but he couldn't quite figure out where the nerve endings were, not with her pressed up against him like that. In fact, he couldn't really figure out much of anything, which was flustering, but not necessarily a negative thing.

There were certainly pluses to being so close to her.

"They're right there," Jaina told him, sounding amused, and she reached out her free hand to point to a cluster on the underside of the panel. "See?"

"Yeah," Kyp rasped, drawing a sharp breath as the fading traces of the sweet soap she'd used on her hair back in the palace, mingled with a scent that was distinctly Jaina, filled his sense, leaving him with a heady feeling. "I see."

She turned her head toward him, dark eyes glittering with something he was too dazed to identify, and the next thing he knew, her lips were brushing against his and she was kissing him.

For a moment, Kyp didn't resist, his eyes fluttered closed as he returned the kiss with a hungry desperation he hadn't even known was inside of him. Jaina pressed in closer, deepening the kiss, sliding her soft lips across his slowly, and Kyp decided he could lose himself in her, could spend the rest of his life doing nothing but kissing this woman...

"No," he cried suddenly, jerking away, his chest heaving frantically as he turned his head sharply, clarity returning to him as if he has just awoken from a dream.

And an impossibly good dream at that.

Jaina eyed him in annoyance. "No?" she echoed with an incredulous laugh. "Why the sith not? It's what you want, I know it is." 

Kyp didn't bother denying it, he knew she could see right through any lie he could construct.

And it was true, he did want this. He hadn't had any idea how badly he wanted it until this very moment. But he wouldn't give in, he knew what she was really up to, and he wasn't going to be a pawn in her little game.

"This can't happen again," he said sternly, and he wondered who he was trying to convince- her, or himself? "I won't let it." 

"Okay," Jaina said with a smirk. "Whatever you say, Master Durron."

"I'm going to go gather up the Vanguards for a recon run," Kyp said abruptly, getting to his feet and heading for the front of the living ship, for the portal door that would take him as far away from the hangar, and from Jaina, as possible. "Stay here and work on the ship."

"Yes, Master," Jaina called dryly.

He hurried from the _Trickster_, making his way across the hangar with five quick strides, and as soon as he was outside, he sighed, his shoulders sagging, and leaned against the cool durasteel wall of the corridor. 

_What have I gotten myself into?_ he wondered, a sinking feeling of dread churning in his stomach. _And how the kriff do I get us both out of it?_

He'd have to come up with some answers, and fast, because he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep resisting Jaina's advances for long. Sooner or later he knew that he would give in, and even worse, he was certain that Jaina now knew it, too.

Groaning, he closed his eyes, tilting his head back, and muttered words he never thought he would say.

"Force, I wish Master Skywalker was here."


	12. Chapter 12

It had been a shot-in-the-dark tactic, really, but it had proven more effective than she could have hoped.

Kissing Kyp hadn't been her intention, she'd just needed to find a way to ensure that he would keep his distance over the next few days so that she could continue with her plans, without him getting in the way.

Although, she wouldn't deny that it hadn't been much of a sacrifice on her part.

Kyp Durron was well versed in the art of kissing.

Not that she would ever admit that, of course, the man's ego was big enough already.

Winding her way through the durasteel corridors leading to the private docking bay that Ta'a Chume had graciously given her to use for the _Trickster_, Jaina's mood darkened with each step as she drew closer to the looming doors at the end of the hall, not at all looking forward to the task ahead of her.

She had allowed herself to sleep in for once, knowing that none of the pilots were due up until this afternoon, so by the time she'd gotten out of the spacious bed in her quarters and dragged herself into the refresher, there were a few messages waiting for her. One had been from Ta'a Chume, alerting her that she had returned from her offworld trip and would like to meet with her when time arose, which meant that Jaina would have to work her schedule around to make time to meet with the former queen later tonight.

The other had been to notify her that the Wookiee techs had arrived from Kashyyk.

Relieved that Lowbacca was back, she had set out looking for him, checking the tech hall first, but the reception she'd gotten there had been surprisingly cool, and the most any of the Wookiee techs had chosen to offer her were furry shrugs and cold stares.

That couldn't be a good sign.

Knowing there was only one other place was Lowie was likely to be, Jaina found herself entering the docking bay where the _Trickster_ was being kept, and sure enough, she sensed her friend's presence.

Lifting her gaze, she found him perched on the thin rail of the upper walkway that looked down upon the living ship, and knew her suspicions had been correct.

During their days as students back on Yavin Four, Lowbacca had often gone off alone to meditate up in the high treetops of the jungle surrounding the Temple whenever something was troubling him. Here in the capitol city of Hapes, this was as close to the canopies of his homeworld as he was likely to find.

Jaina quietly climbed the stairs, mentally going through all of the justifications she could come up with for what she had asked of him, for invoking the life-debt his family owed her father in order to convince the Wookiee techs to travel the dangerous trek from Kashyyk to Hapes at her behest.

Lowbacca didn't even glance at her as she came to lean on the railing beside him.

"How many did you lose?" she asked him.

He let out a terse yap, a number high enough to make her wince.

"If I'd known the Wookiee ships were going to meet with that much resistance," she murmured. "Then I would have sent an escort."

Finally, Lowbacca looked at her, and there was no mistaking the rebuke in his eyes.

"I know where Harrar's priest ship is," Jaina snapped defensively. "I don't know the location of every Sith-spawned hunk of rock in this galaxy! Yet."

Lowbacca's dark eyes searched her face for a long moment, looking for something, though she had no idea what, and then he conceded this with a grim nod, but he still looked deeply troubled.

"What we're doing is worthwhile," Jaina insisted, imbuing her words with the full weight of the Force, but the conviction behind them was entirely sincere. "Important. I'm sorry that some of your friends died, but we've got to move forward. The Yuuzhan Vong shapers are fast. They'll figure out what we know and then they'll do something else. Our window of opportunity is very small."

When he didn't argue with her on that, she could sense his weary resignation, and knew that she was almost there.

"Are you with me?" she asked softly, looking up at him with wide, pleading eyes.

The Wookiee Jedi started to reply, then froze, as if spotting something, and climbed off the railing.

A wave of burning anger, swept into the hangar like a cold, powerful wind, spreading a chill through the air. "That," she sighed irritably, mentally cursing the man's timing. "Would be Kyp."

The Jedi Master stormed into the building and up the stairs in her direction, muscles tight and practically trembling with fury. The guards who moved to stop him flew aside, without even a gesture of his hand, and hit the walls, unconscious before they even hit the ground.

Barring his teeth, Lowbacca stepped forward, placing himself in front of Jaina protectively, and she felt a twinge of guilt for using him the way she had when faced with her friend's unwavering loyalty.

A well-aimed psionic blast from Kyp sent him staggering back, though, and the two-and-a-half-meter, ginger-furred Wookiee fell hard, crumbling into a heap on the floor of the walkway as if was nothing more than a child's plaything that had fallen from a shelf.

Kyp seized Jaina with that same dark energy, spinning her around to face him, his emerald eyes blazing.

"You've been holding out on me again," he snarled, positively trembling with fury. "You've been sending up pilots, Hapan pilots, in ships that give off the Trickster's signal. That's first cousin to a suicide mission!"

So, he only knew about the missions, he didn't know how she'd gotten the pilots to fly them. That was probably for the best, she had a feeling he wouldn't be too happy if he knew she'd been using mind-tricks in such a decidedly ambiguous manner.

"We need more time," Jaina retorted defensively. "We're close to finding a way to lure the Yuuzhan Vong into a trap. Meanwhile, this little diversion is keeping them busy. They're finding my ship all over this quadrant."

Kyp shoved a hand through his hair and shook his head, frustration and anger seeping off of him through the Force in waves. "There's a line between dedication and fanaticism," he informed her darkly. "I think you passed it a few kilometers back."

"That's rich, coming from you!" she scoffed. "The Vong are off chasing ghost ships, rather than focusing their energy on attacking Hapes. Fighter pilots know the risks, and they know they're saving thousands of noncombatants."'

"Results aren't enough," he countered. "Not for you."

Sensing what he really meant, Jaina gaped at him in disbelief. "I heard what you didn't say," she marveled, oddly detached from any emotional reaction to the thought that had leaked from the Jedi Master. "You said, 'Not for you'. What you thought was, _Not for Darth Vader's granddaughter_."

"You're my responsibility now," Kyp persisted, doggedly avoiding that acknowledgment.

Incredulous, Jaina gave a bitter laugh. "I wish Uncle Luke could hear this!" she cried in disbelief. "_Paralysis and inactivity, not the dark side, will overcome the Jedi_. Haven't you said that a hundred times?"

Instead of answering, Kyp blew out a long sigh, unable to deny his own past arguments, as much as she sensed that he would like to at the moment.

"When is another pilot due to go out?" he demanded.

"She's powering up now," Jaina admitted.

When he spun toward the door, she instinctively drew her lightsaber, and Kyp froze at the distinctive click and hum of the traditional Jedi weapon being ignited.

He slowly turned to face her, hands raised in a placating gesture, but the muscles in his legs tensed instinctively, and his weight shifted onto the balls of his feet, preparing himself to move fast if necessary.

"I don't want to fight you," he warned.

"You'd change your mind if the stakes were high enough," Jaina said with a smirk, raising the violet blade to his throat.

"Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed, but he wasn't nearly as confident as he tried to sound. "You wouldn't kill me even if you could."

"The idea isn't without a certain appeal," Jaina retorted snidely, flashing him a feral smile just to further out him on edge. "But it's not what I had in mind. If I win, you fly the rest of this battle under my command. If you win, I'm yours."

Those last two words had a satisfying affect on him, as she had known they would, and she resisted the urge to smile.

"No more holding out, no more games," she promised evenly, bringing her dark eyes up to bore into his intense green ones, putting the full weight of the Force behind her words to make their meaning sink in a little better for him. "I'll keep the channels open, act like a real apprentice."

Kyp considered her in silence for a long moment, then nodded. "Done."

His lightsaber flew into his hand, and the glowing white-purple blade hissed toward her, all in one fluid movement, but she vaulted high over the flamboyant attack and flipped over his head.

He rolled aside to avoid a possible slashing counter and came up in a crouch.

Jaina began to back down the stairs, weapon at high guard as he advanced. When he darted forward with a quick, feinting lunge, she anticipated the move and leaned away from it, then quickly changed directions and lunged for him, sweeping her arm up into a rising parry that threw his lightsaber out wide.

She deftly twisted her wrists to disengage their shining blades, and then leapt straight up.

Kyp somersaulted down the stairs, turned, and came up with his lightsaber held high and ready. Placing a hand on the railing, Jaina threw herself over it, jumping the fifteen meters to the ground, and delivered two quick, testing jabs as she landed beside him.

He parried both, and they drew apart, circling, taking in each other's measure and exchanging blows that became less tentative with each strike.

Jaina whirled away from his high, slashing strike and brought her own blade up to catch Kyp's in an overhead parry. Making a surprise and sudden rush, she swung low at his knees, trying to get him to send himself off balance when he parried.

But Kyp leapt over the blade with a graceful twist of his body and brought his own blade down on top of Jaina's as he landed. Pivoting on the ball of her foot, she snapped a side kick at Kyp's head, but the Jedi Master ducked, rolling through a somersault, then came up on his feet.

Darting in fast, she made to strike at his throat, but Kyp brought his blade up to crash into hers, pushing off of the ground to drive her back a few steps before she regained her footing and held her ground.

They stared at one another over their crossed blades for a moment, eyes locked, and then they were moving, a whirl of spinning blades, deft cuts, blocks and parries that took place so fast anyone who happened by would have seen little more than a blur.

_Faster,_ she told herself, and danced out of the way as his blade darted in towards her side. Her right foot came up to plant itself against the wall, and she kicked off into a back flip over Kyp's head, striking the moment her feet touched the ground behind him. He blocked it with an over-the-shoulder parry, then spun away, coming back at her with a left feint.

Kyp was good, but she'd known that going into this fight.

She would just have to be better.

His blade cut hard right, but Jaina was anticipating this and threw herself into a forward roll, kicking out her foot to catch the Jedi Master in the back of the ankle, hoping to send him tumbling to the floor.

The older Jedi used the backward momentum to throw himself into a backflip, though, and he landed, lightsaber at the ready, one eyebrow raised in mocking challenge that made her anger flare up violently.

She lashed out with her lightsaber, pressing forward even after he blocked her strike, keeping him on his toes as she alternated between long, flowing slashes and short, chopping strikes, and it took him several beats to find an opening to push her back, forcing her to backpedal as she parried each of his thrusts.

"I'm not going to let you stop this next flight," Jaina said defiantly, whirling away from his high, slashing attack and catching his blade in an overhead parry.

As soon as she twisted to face him, Kyp disengaged and stepped back. "Who said I wanted to stop the mission?" he demanded. "I want to fly it."

Startled, Jaina blinked at him, and wondered what he was up to. "You do?" 

"If the mission is that important, I'll go myself." 

"Forget it," Jaina snapped, shaking her head. "The Jedi are too few and too valuable to risk."

"I know," he agreed evenly. "And that's precisely why I need to go."

Still with her blade cocked over her head, not quite putting it past him to attack the minute she let her guard down, Jaina stepped back, and eyed him warily.

"Let's just say I'm taking my responsibilities seriously," Kyp said, as if sensing her confusion. "I don't want my apprentice making some of the same mistakes I made."

"What apprentice?" Jaina sneered, her lightsaber flashing towards his vulnerable throat, forcing him to parry. "You haven't beaten me yet."

"I will," he retorted with a cocky smile. "And we both know it." She was more than willing to argue that point, but he wasn't through yet. "We also know how difficult expectations can be. You've got to live up to your famous parents and your uncle, which in some ways is even more difficult than living down a monumental failure."

Despite herself, Jaina flinched inwardly, unsettled with how easily he had seen one of secret resentments she kept safe in her heart. "You can't compare our situations," she responded sharply.

"We both lost brothers."

That stung, drawing the ever-present anguish she'd buried deep inside of her to the surface once more, but she shoved it back down, refusing to acknowledge it, refusing to let it cripple her.

"And maybe hitting the Yuuzhan Vong will give some meaning to Anakin and Jacen's deaths," Jaina spat.

"I tried to avenge my brother," Kyp reminded her grimly. "And I ended up killing him."

"Your point is?"

"Your mother thinks Jacen is still alive, what if she's right?"

Stunned with fury, Jaina's lightsaber lowered of its own accord. Sensing the outrage blazing within her, Kyp shifted his weight to the balls of his feet, gaining balance in preparation for the coming attack.

But Jaina switched off her weapon.

"You want this mission?" she asked scathingly, hooking the lightsaber back onto her belt. "Take it."

Kyp relaxed, his expression showing mild surprise, while his presence was tinged with relief that only further to irritate her already trembling fury, which was precariously holding itself back from lunging forward and choking the life out of the man in front of her with her bare hands.

"But you'd better survive," she warned venomously. "We're not through here, not by a long shot."

With that, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the docking bay, throwing open the doors with the Force and slamming them again behind her hard enough to shake the walls themselves.

As she stalked angrily through the building and out across the pavilion towards the palace, people quickly moved out of her way, as if even those blind to the Force could sense the rage within her, as if it had become a solid and tangible force in itself, sending those in her way scattering for cover.

On the way into the palace, she kicked a repulsorsled for good measure, sending it careening into the wall where it shattered.

She was going to kill that man, no matter how good of a kisser he was.


	13. Chapter 13

The battle had not gone as expected.

It had gone better than she could have dared to hope.

Kyp's mission three days prior to attach a gravitic signature device to the underbelly of a Yuuzhan Vong ship, which she was certain must have infuriated and baffled the warrior who the priestship dragged in thinking they'd finally nabbed her instead, had bought Hapes some time.

Unfortunately for Jaina, it had also made Kyp even more determined to dog her every step, his emerald gaze always watching her sharply, but without objectivity.

Objectivity, she had come to realize, was something that Kyp Durron would never have when it came to her.

And she was more than willing to use that to her advantage.

The past few days, though, they had worked together, with some assistance from Lowbacca, to formulate a plan of attack against the Yuuzhan Vong who were bound to press closer to Hapes now that their impatience was growing with every failed attempt to capture her.

_Trap set, bait taken,_ she mused to herself as she powered down the living ship. _Game over, I win._

Once again, she silently thanked Chewbacca for insisting on teaching her how to play dejarik, and vowed to use what she'd learned in her campaign against the Yuuzhan Vong, to make them pay for Sernpidal.

A Wookiee growl came from further back in the ship, and a few moments later, Lowbacca appeared in the rough, coral doorway, his fangs showing in a pleased smile and woofing proudly.

"Thanks, Lowie," Jaina replied, feeling just as satisfied as he was, pulling the cognition hood away from her head and placing it down where it belonged. "You're right, we did show them a thing or two." 

Unhooking her restraining vines, she climbing out of the pilot's seat and turned to face her towering ginger-furred friend, whose giant, furry hand clapped her on the shoulder affectionately, dark eyes now void of the bitter accusation she had seen there just a few days ago.

"I couldn't have done it without you, Lowie," she told him, and, on impulse, leaned forward to hug him tightly around the middle, pressing her face into his thick, warm fur.

Clearly puzzled, Lowbacca still put an arm around her, holding her close, while his free hand came to rest on top of her head. It had always amused him how short she was next to his towering Wookiee frame, even more so than the way he dwarfed Jacen and Anakin. 

Now, though, she didn't sense any amusement within her old friend at all, just a weary sort of relief.

It both irritated her and made her feel guilty to realize just how much the Wookiee Jedi had been worrying about her as of late. She'd known, logically, that her friends and family were concerned, how could they not be after everything that had happened to her at Myrkr, but she hadn't really given it much thought until now.

Drawing on the Force to smother out the spark of anger growing within her, Jaina stayed in Lowbacca's furry embrace for a moment longer, not ready to give up this last tentative shelter, when all others had been stripped away. 

Eventually, though, the sounds of life outside the living ship began to trickle through the coral hulls, and she sighed, pulling back with a distinct weariness in her heart that she couldn't really explain. Lowie seemed to get a glimpse of it, because he growled softly, but she just shook her head, forcing a smile for him, and patted his hand as she slipped past, heading for the portal door. 

The Wookiee gazed after her a moment, then followed.

As they emerged from the living ship, cheering, mingled with exhilarated laughter, filled her ears, as those who had survived the battle under her command spilled out of their ships, falling into back-thumping embraces with their comrades.

Jaina smiled faintly as she strode down the _Trickster_'s ramp.

The task she had in mind was far from finished, but they had made a good start, and that, she supposed, was worth celebrating.

A slight tingle up the back of her neck was all the warning she had before strong arms grabbed her by the waist, lifting her off of her feet and spinning her in an exuberant circle.

Laughing, Jaina let Kyp's dazzling grin invoke her own smile, and he placed her down on the Hapan dock floor gently, beaming. "That was brilliant," he declared breathlessly, green still eyes bright with adrenaline and brimming with excitement. "After that little performance, even _I'm_ half convinced you're a goddess! And the Vong... they were dragging their tails behind them when they sounded the retreat!" 

That was certainly true, Jaina had been unable to resist smirking when the Yuuzhan Vong fleet began to retreat after her trickery had wreaked havoc throughout the battle. They had been picking up the Trickster's signal everywhere, and yet she was nowhere, and a good half of the fleet had destroyed itself mistakenly, fooled into believing they were shooting at her instead of their fellow warriors.

"It was rather brilliant, wasn't it?" she agreed in delight.

"Goddess, it was incredible," Kyp confirmed, his hands still resting comfortably on her hips. "_You _are incredible."

Despite herself, those words, and the sincerity behind them, caused Jaina's chest to flare with warmth.

Behind her, Lowie chuckled, and she shot her friend a halfhearted glare, which led him to raise his furry hands in a gesture of placation, but the wry amusement didn't fade from his dark gaze as he trotted past.

Watching him, Jaina spotted the familiar form of Tenel Ka on the other side of the dock waiting for him, and she bristled as her friend's cool gray eyes locked with her own, steely and full of the same concern that she'd sensed in Lowbacca earlier.

_Stow it,_ she thought sharply, his gaze boring back at Tenel Ka until the Hapan princess looked away, focusing instead on their Wookiee friend as he reached her side.

"Looks like there's going to be some kind of party in the square," Kyp commented, jolting her attention in his direction, only to find him watching the pilots around them talking, his green eyes narrowed as he used the Force to listen to snippets of their conversations.

"A party, huh?" Jaina echoed, raising an eyebrow.

"Today was a good day for Hapes," Kyp pointed out. "The people want to celebrate."

"I suppose they're entitled to that," Jaina conceded with a shrug.

"There's going to be music and dancing," Jedi Master informed her, gaze flickering to a cluster of pilots passing by the _Trickster_, and then settling on her, his green eyes sparkling good-naturedly. "How about it, Goddess? Feel up to a night off?"

Warily, Jaina opened her mouth to say no, to make an excuse about being tired, then caught herself, and decided it might not be that bad to spend the evening in Kyp's company.

"Maybe," she said instead, pretending to think it over.

Kyp's lips quirked, and he gave a dramatic, slightly mocking, bow at the waist. "Might I have the honor of escorting you to the celebration, Your Divine Greatness?" he requested with a straight-face, offering her his hand.

"Since you asked nicely," Jaina agreed, grinning, and let him loop her arm through his.

As they left the dock, heading in the direction of the center of the city, she felt Tenel Ka's eyes on her once more, and shied closer to Kyp, as if to shrink against him and away from her friend's accusing gaze. She sensed a flicker of grim concern from the Hapan princess and, feeling vindictive, she decided to rest her head on Kyp's shoulder, just to send a stab of unease through the other Jedi woman.

If Kyp was aware of any of that, he didn't let on.

"We're not exactly dressed in out party best," he noted wryly, flashing her a charming smile. "Although somehow you still manage to look beautiful in a flightsuit and boots."

Snorting, Jaina rolled her eyes. "Didn't we have a talk about all this flattery stuff before Sernpidal, Durron?" she asked dryly, and for once, neither of them flinched inwardly at the mention of his deception. "It's not necessary."

"I know," Kyp said, his smile growing even broader. "But it's true."

"I should hope so," Jaina retorted, the right corner of her lip twitching. "It wouldn't do for a goddess to be any less than beautiful at all times, would it?"

"Jaina, you would be beautiful even if you'd just climbed out of a pit of slime," the Jedi Master insisted as they rounded a corner.

"I highly doubt that," Jaina said sarcastically, but, when he wasn't looking, she glanced down at her black flightsuit just the same, relieved that there weren't any grease or gel stains on it today. Kyp, on the other hand, was wearing a set of Jedi tunic and leggings, but instead of his robes, which would have gotten in the way in the cockpit of his X-wing, he had the cape her father had given him all those years ago attached at the collar.

_At least with casual attire, it won't be a stuffy event like that banquet, _she mused with a faint smile, recalling the endless evening which Kyp had saved her from, only to drag her to Anakin's funeral in the mountains.

Her cheery composure faltered for a moment, a crack forming somewhere deep inside of her, but she pushed it all aside, burying it deep down within her, and vowed not think about her brothers or the Vong, or even the war, for the rest of the night. This was supposed to be a celebration, after all, a time to kick back and relax.

And Force knew that she deserved it after all she'd been through lately.

By the time they reached the vast city square, music was already filling the air as a Hapan band played off to one side, and there was a good sized crowd gathered, either mingling as they tossed back drinks or out in the middle of the square dancing. As they approached, Jaina recognized several of Kyp's Vanguard pilots scattered about, and Seth, who had conveniently forgotten that she'd been behind the 'mission' that had nearly gotten him killed, smiled in their direction, lifting his brandy in greeting.

Kyp's brow furrowed slightly, finding that odd, and Jaina quickly tugged on his arm, getting him to look down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Feel like dancing?" she asked quickly, with a bright smile, even as she compelled Seth's attention back to his wingmate with the Force. "And don't tell me you don't know how, because I remember dancing with you at more than one Jedi festival on Yavin Four when I was younger."

"Are you calling me old?" Kyp demanded, even as he unfolded their linked arms and stepped in front of her, holding out his right hand invitingly.

"You said it, Master," Jaina said, placing her hand in his and grinning. "Not me."

Kyp laced their fingers together, and she couldn't help the warmth that spread through her at the feel of his hand in hers, as if that was where it had always belonged.

His other hand came to rest on her side, his palm pressing gently into the curve of her hip, and despite herself, Jaina drew a soft breath at the feel of his hand, and swallowed, suddenly feeling vulnerable in a way she hadn't anticipated.

But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. 

"Ready?" Kyp inquired.

"Ready," she answered, and cursed herself for how breathless it sounded.

Kyp noticed, but only smiled, and then they were moving, their boots gliding soundlessly across the stone surface of the courtyard. 

Dancing, Jaina knew from experience, was a lot like fighting. It was all about instinct, about going with the flow, and that was one of the reasons that it had been part of the curriculm at the Academy on Yavin Four. Grace of movement and control were vital skills in combat, and they were often learned easiest through dancing, at least according to Tionne's philosophies.

And, as the gentle historian liked to point out, dancing was a way of expressing life.

As the daughter of the former Chief-of-State of the New Republic, Jaina had been forced to spend many an evening dancing at diplomatic dinners when she was younger, and even the banquet held here on Hapes the night of Anakin's funeral, which had left her feet killing her by the end of the night.

With Kyp, though, it wasn't a task to be tolerated or endured.

It was actually almost fun.

_Fun,_ Jaina repeated to herself with a sigh._ How long has it been since the last time I've had fun?_

Too long to count, possibly not since the very opening conflict of the war at Dubrillion, or even before that, after they had learned the tragic news about Chewbacca's last stand at Sernpidal...

"What's wrong?" Kyp asked gently, without slowing their movements.

"Nothing," Jaina said, favoring him with a small smile that wasn't entirely forced. "Just realizing how long it's been since I've had a break, you know?" She chuckled softly, shaking her head in bittersweet amusement. "I can't remember the last time I was this relaxed..."

"Me neither," Kyp murmured, his warm breath spilling onto her neck, and Jaina almost shivered, her heart skipping a beat of its own accord as they twirled in time to the echoing strains of the Hapan band.

They moved in total synchrinization, the Force allowing them to anticiapte each other's movements exactly the way it would have had they been dueling with their lightsabers, only instead of a steely concentration, they could let go of their focus and just move to the silent harmony of the Force.

And so it went for what seemed like an hour, though Jaina neither felt fatigue nor boredom, every fiber of her being focused in on the man before her, the connection between them in the Force strong and palpable, shining like a small, bright star, but what it meant, she didn't know.

As the last notes of the current song died out, the Hapan band moved on to another, and a familiar melody filled the air, and Jaina smiled, recognizing it anywhere.

The Jedi Master turned her underneath his arm, lowering her into a half-dip, and she laughed as he pulled her upright again, tugging her closer against his chest. "Let's see just how Corellian you really are, Goddess," he murmured in her ear, and began to move in the difficult steps of the Corellian waltz. 

Jaina laughed again, and let Kyp guide her through the steps, even though she knew them by heart. From the time when she had been very small, her father would dance this dance with her, letting her stand on his feet until she grew tall enough to do it on her own, and he'd twirl her around the living area of their Coruscant apartment, while Jacen and Anakin made faces at her from the couch where they were watching the HoloNet.

The celebration continued well into the evening, and by nightfall the vast city square was crowded with laughing, dancing people, and vibrant lightstreamers of blue and purple and red sparkled in the sky overhead, being set off from the roof of the palace in their honor.

She danced with Lowbacca a few times, laughing as the towering Wookiee howled along with the music, and she let a few of the Hapan pilots lead her across the courtyard, before finding herself back in Kyp's arms once more.

For a few hours, the war became but a memory, and Jaina let herself get caught up in the dance, all of her troubles fading from her thoughts as she closed her eyes, leaning her head on his shoulder and letting herself drift in the moment with his arms securely wrapped around her slender waist.

"Goddess?" Kyp murmured in her ear, placing a husky infliction on the title.

"Mmm?" 

Jaina opened her eyes and lifted her head, only to find their faces inches apart, noses almost touching. Her breath hitched in her throat, and she was suddenly aware of her pulse racing, of his heart pounding against her chest, of how small the space between their lips really was.

The whole galaxy seemed to slide away, and there was only the two of them, dancing in one another's eyes, drowning in each other.

Kyp's head tilted down even as her own titled upward, his lips hovering over hers, and her eyes fluttered closed as his mouth fit over hers. The kiss started out slow, almost tentative, before growing in passion and intensity. It was a kiss fueled by the stifled desire that had been simmering between them for the past month, maybe even since her uncle had sent her off to locate the rogue Jedi Master, shortly before Sernpidal.

There had always been a spark between them, it was why they fought so often and so fiercely, but Jaina had recently discovered that as much of a rush as fighting with Kyp Durron was, kissing him was even better.

For a long moment, the rest of the celebration disappeared, and the pilots who glanced in their direction with laughing smiles escaped her notice, the only thing she could feel, hear, see- the only thing she knew- was Kyp and his hands as they cradled her face, his lips upon hers, and her own fingers threading through his dark hair. 

Everything inside of her ached with something deep and profound, something she'd never felt before and something that both exhilarated her and frightened her at the same time.

Distantly, she felt a sudden clarity spark within Kyp, a bittersweet presence of mind returning to the Jedi Master, just like the last time they'd kissed, but he didn't break away from this kiss as he had from the one she initiated while working on the _Trickster_.

Instead, he let the kiss linger, softly drawing it to a close, and he rested his forehead against hers wearily, holding her face in his hands as a heavy sigh seemed to weigh down upon his shoulders. They stood like that for a long moment, Jaina not understanding the conflicting emotions she sensed within him, and Kyp not offering any sort of explanation, verbal or otherwise.

At last, he drew away, and stepped back with a disconcerting expression on his face, letting his hands fall from her face, their gazes locked, before he turned, and, without a word, walked away from her.

Jaina stared after him, watching him weave his way through the crowd until he disappeared from her sight.

It took several moments for it to sink in, for her to realize that she'd just found, perhaps, the quickest and most effective way of ensuring that Kyp didn't get in the way of her future plans.

_Not so fast, Master, _she thought, her lips curving up into a slow, predatory smirk. _I'm not through with you yet._

Working her way through the dancing crowd across the city square, she reached out with the Force to track him.

And she followed.


	14. Chapter 14

Blaster or lightsaber.

That was the question, wasn't it? Would it be Han Solo who shot him for kissing his only daughter, or Luke Skywalker who cut him down with his lightsaber?

At the moment, Kyp Durron wasn't so sure it wouldn't be both.

After all, Luke and Han always had done their best work together.

_You're a dead man, Durron,_ he told himself with a heavy sigh. _What were you thinking?_

He wasn't thinking, that was precisely the problem, and not thinking... well, that only ever led to trouble. 

Especially when it involved Jaina Solo.

Picking up the hydrospanner laying on the coral table in the main hold of the _Trickster_, Kyp crouched down by the newly healed coral panel, examining the edges of the graft for any breaks of tears. He had been futilely attempting to get the ship to accept the new skin, which had been taken from its underbelly, earlier in the week, before he'd begun to avoid the living ship's docking bay after the kiss Jaina had planted on him that day.

Apparently her efforts had been more successful than his own.

In more ways than one.

That kiss had been just another move in her dejarik game, he'd known that even then, but it was only recently that he had figured out the real purpose behind it.

He was loathe to admit just how easily he had been manipulated, that all it had taken to get him out of the way while she went back on her word and renewed her merciless tactics, sending pilots up on suicide runs bearing the _Trickster_'s signal to confuse the Vong, was a simple kiss.

_There was nothing simple about that kiss,_ Kyp snorted, shaking his head. 

It had been haunting him ever since, plaguing his dreams and constantly preventing him from thinking about anything else other than the young, dark-eyed Jedi beauty who had given it to him.

And that was completely inappropriate.

Their age difference aside, which was daunting, but not enough to deter him, he was supposed to be her Master, for Force sake! And there had to be something in the Jedi Code somewhere outlawing that kind of relationship between a Jedi and his apprentice.

And even if there wasn't, he was certain that a Jedi Master was supposed to know better than to get involved with someone who was clearly under the influence of the dark side.

So why couldn't he stop these thoughts, these feelings, these urges?

Growling in frustration, he flung the hydrospanner across the alcove, and it whacked against the opposite coral wall with a thud.

Sliding down onto the spongy floor, Kyp leaned his back against the wall and closed his eyes, desperately pleading with the Force for some kind of divine intervention, because he'd gone from a man swimming just fine in the oceans of Mon Calamari, to a drowning man in the blink of an eye.

It was hard to believe that only a few weeks ago, his biggest concern had been his broken squadron and how to best fight the Yuuzhan Vong. Now both his squadron, whether it was the haunting memory of the Dozen pilots who had died under his command or his current Vanguard volunteers, and the Yuuzhan Vong were the furthest things from his mind these days.

There wasn't room for them, or anything else, with Jaina occupying all of his thoughts.

After the kiss here in this very alcove aboard the _Trickster_- he groaned, wishing he'd chosen a better spot on the ship to try and get Jaina out of his mind- earlier in the week, Kyp had resolved to avoid any future romantic entanglements with his 'apprentice' by making sure that he kept his distance, both physical and otherwise.

So what, then, had possessed him to escort her to the celebration tonight?

He wanted to just shrug it off as being caught up in the exhilaration of victory, like when he'd scooped her up in his arms as he came down the ramp of the living ship, spinning her around with a laugh, but he knew it was more than that.

For the first time since her return from Myrkr, she had smiled, and at him, of all people.

And he had wanted to capture that moment, to luxuriate in it and keep it alive for as long as possible, because it was so rare these days to see her smile, to hear her laugh, for her to be _happy_, even for just a fleeting moment.

Now, he realized just how high the water had begun to rise, that making her smile had become his first priority.

Even before turning her back from her present path.

_Great,_ he thought bitterly. _Some Master I turned out to be, letting my so-called apprentice get the best of me._

As if spending the whole night dancing with her, savoring the feel of her in his arms and the intoxicating scent of her filling his senses, refusing to relinquish her to others for more than a dance or two at a time, wasn't bad enough, he'd let himself get so overwhelmed by the moment, by her, that he'd done the one thing he'd promised himself he would never do. 

And kissed her.

Hadn't he vowed, to Jaina nonetheless, after the first kiss, that it would not happen again, under any circumstances?

He'd been convinced, or mostly convinced, that he was strong enough to resist her for now, he'd never expected to cave in less than even a standard week.

Then again, he'd never expected that _he_ would be the one to kiss _her_ this time around, either.

And he could still see her. Hear the sound of her silky, sultry voice. Feel her in his arms as they danced.

As they kissed.

She was all he could focus on, all he could think about. Thoughts of her distracted him, tormented him until he found himself seeking her out again, just to be near her, just to feel her presence close by.

And that was dangerous.

Jaina was not herself right now, the dark side was clouding her judgment, she wasn't aware of just how perilous a game she was playing.

But Kyp knew, and he was supposed to be finding a way to change the game around on her, not playing along. 

No matter how much of a temptress she might be turning out to be.

_She's a temptress, all right,_ Kyp thought with a groan. _And she knows it._

A temptress who was lethal to more than just his state of mind, possibly to his very soul.

Why had Master Skywalker left Hapes? Why hadn't he foreseen the treacherous road ahead and taken steps to stop it? If anyone could have stopped Jaina in her tracks, pulled her away from the darkness threatening to consume her, it would have been her uncle.

And yet Luke and Mara had left, understandably to go and reunite with their infant son after the close call they'd had with him at Coruscant, but they hadn't made any real effort to get through to Jaina before leaving. And then Han and Leia had left, too, going to join the Skywalkers at Eclipse. In her message, Leia had asked him to watch over Jaina, a great leap of faith on her part, but she hadn't left any instructions or advice on how to do so.

_Maybe if Jacen were here, _he thought grimly.

But Jacen was dead, just like Anakin, and it had been their deaths that catapulted Jaina down this path to begin with.

"Force help me," Kyp sighed heavily, leaning his head back against the coral wall at an angle. "I don't know what to do."

It had been a long time since he'd last felt this helpless. Everything was spiraling out of control, and try as he might, he could not stop it, could not keep things from falling apart.

Jaina was bound and determined to continue with her quest for vengeance, fueled by grief and rage and despair, and she wouldn't let anyone stand in her way. 

Not that he was even sure he was _in_ her way anymore. 

Hadn't he helped her at Gallinore, despite his better judgment? Hadn't he let her convince him that sending up pilots to launch the Trickster's signal onto Yuuzhan Vong ships was worth the risk? Hadn't she somehow gotten him to forget how angry he had been when he realized she'd been sending pilots up in fighters _bearing _the living ship's signal?

Instead of being an obstacle between Jaina and her goals, he had somehow become a means of achieving them.

And despite it all, he still wanted her in a way that bordered on desperation.

Why? What was it about Jaina that captivated him so?

She was a powerful Jedi, despite her youth, and an incredible pilot with a flare for strategy and tactics. She was intelligent and quick-witted, one of the few who could keep up with him in the arena of verbal sparring. Normally, she was a kind, compassionate woman, though her compassion had clearly been strained after Myrkr. She was brave and fearless, always up for adventure and never shying from danger.

And she was so very beautiful.

He didn't understand it, and in truth, he didn't dare to investigate it.

Knowledge of his feelings would only jeopardize them both in ways too terrible to consider.

_I have to stay away from her,_ Kyp decided grimly. _I have to stay far, far away from her, and I have to find a way to save her from herself before it's too late._

Of course, hadn't he made these same vows several times over already, since arriving at Hapes? 

Frustrated, more with himself than anything else, he began to halfheartedly bang his head back against the coral wall behind him, as if it could somehow jolt his mind clear enough for an answer to present itself.

"If you put a hole in my ship doing that," an all too familiar voice spoke up. "I'm going to put a hole in you."

Startled, Kyp nearly whacked his head harder than he'd intended to, as Jaina's presence suddenly flooded his senses, and he didn't need to open his eyes or lift his head to know that she was standing in the doorway of the alcove, her dark gaze hovering over him. She had managed to not only sneak into the docking bay, but onto the living ship and into the very same room with him, all without him even catching a glimmering of her approach. 

One thing was for certain, she was getting more adept at using the dark side than he'd realized.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded wearily, without opening his eyes. 

"You really expected me to just let you walk away after that?" Jaina retorted wryly, and he could envision her lovely face in his mind, lips quirking and eyebrow raised in amusement. She was leaning against the doorway, arms folded over her chest, brimming with the feisty spirit that he found so incredibly irresistible. 

"There was no 'that'," Kyp insisted bluntly. "There was only a mistake. A very big mistake, and one that won't ever happen again."

"Heard this line before, Master," she pointed out with a chuckle.

"Yeah, well," Kyp muttered, his chest warming as his mind traitorously brought to mind the intense, dizzying kiss that had preceded those words the last time he'd spoken them. "This time I mean it."

"Okay." 

His nostrils flared as he sensed her taking a step towards him.

"I know what you're trying to do, Jaina," Kyp warned sharply, drawing on the reservoir of calm the Force had to offer. "It won't work."

"Do?" Jaina echoed innocently. "I'm not doing anything, Master." 

_Master..._ he was beginning to dread hearing her speak that name as desperately as it thrilled him every time it passed her lips, soft and husky, inviting and provocative, alluring and- 

Wrong.

Very, very wrong.

"I mean it, Jaina," Kyp growled softly, opening his eyes to fix her with a piercing glare. "I'm in no mood for any of your games." 

"That's good," Jaina retorted, not even pausing in her steps. "Because I'm not here to play."

She prowled towards him, methodically, like some hungry, dangerous predator stalking its prey, and a conflicting chill and fire spread through him under the devilish gleam in her gaze.

Pushing quickly to his feet, Kyp stepped aside just as she reached him, turning so that his back was now to the doorway of the alcove, giving him an escape if necessary, even as everything inside of him was trying to convince him to stay.

"I'm warning you, Jaina," he said sharply. "Stay where you are."

"Or what?" she asked, a mocking little pout, which ought to have been branded as part of the dark side itself, crossing her lips as she moved towards him again. "You're going to hurt me? Ooh, big bad Jedi Master... I'm shaking in my boots."

Clenching his jaw, every muscle in his body going tight and rigid as she stepped into his personal space, Kyp tried to think about anything else; smashball, the Yuuzhan Vong, Han Solo about to shoot him with a blaster right between the eyes...

It didn't work, though, he was still painfully aware of her soft, warm curves as she pressed herself against him, aware of his blood rushing south, aware that she smelled like sweet starkiller roses on a warm summer's day on Deyer...

_She's over a decade your junior,_ he reminded himself sharply, desperate to regain some sanity. _You used to entertain her and her brothers as kids when they were on Yavin Four, shavit._

Before he could react, Jaina reached up onto her toes, arms snaking around his neck, and kissed him.

There was passion in her kiss, raw and untapped, and it ignited a fire deep within him that needed her so badly it terrified him.

It took him much too long to break away.

But when he did, he realized that he had to get out of there, now, before things got out of hand. 

He spun away, heading for the doorway, but Jaina cut him off somehow, and she clearly wasn't going to let him go without a fight. There was something wild and dangerous in her dark eyes, something that he knew he shouldn't have wanted, but he wanted it just the same.

"Stop it," Kyp ordered, much hoarser than it should have been.

"You're the Jedi Master," Jaina pointed out with a leering sneer, drawing closer. "You stop it." 

He would have done just that, of course, had he been able to remember how.

Instead, he tried to back away from her and stumbled over the forgotten hydrospanner he'd thrown aside earlier, before his back hit the coral wall of the living ship. Jaina kept coming, moving towards him with the calculated grace of a Corellian sand panther, a determined glint in her dark, fiery eyes.

"Jaina, you don't want..." Kyp rasped, his heart racing madly, but she pressed her finger to his lips, stilling his words and catching his breath in his tightening throat.

"Tell me what _you _want, Kyp," she murmured seductively, pressing her lithe little body against his in a manner that made it hard to keep his thoughts focused on anything else except for the warmth between them and the dizzying array of emotions flooding the air in the Force. 

Want, frustration, desperation, desire...

And not all of his.

Groaning, Kyp's eyes fell closed as her fingers drew lazy circles across his chest.

"I want," he began, but couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. He couldn't bring himself to admit that he wanted her to stay, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her to leave, either.

_Push her away,_ the logical, detached part of his brain told him. _Push her away._

"You want what?" Jaina raised an eyebrow, half-coy, half-challenging, her hands resting lightly on his chest, their warmth seeping through his tunic and spreading a hot blaze through his body.

"I want..." Kyp tried again, his breathing shallow and rapid, but found his ferverish mind was spinning too fast to think clearly, and his blood was pumping too hard to shake off the fogginess of desire, the voracious yearning welling up inside of him more agonizing than anything he had ever known.

"Yes?" Jaina prompted, the corners of her mouth twitching into a smirk.

_Push her away._

He couldn't.

Not tonight, not ever. Everything rational and sensible and sane inside of him was telling him to run away, not to do this, but his heart wouldn't listen.

Right or wrong, he needed her.

"Force, I want you," Kyp broke at last, unable to hold back any longer, and he was rewarded with a long, searing kiss that made his head spin, every fiber of his being coming to life in a spark of raptured bliss.

When Jaina pulled away, her lips were curved into a broad, triumphant smirk.

"Then take me, Master Durron," she purred softly in his ear, her warm breath spilling across his cheek. "I'm all yours." 

Throwing aside all logic, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her hard against him, and did just that.


	15. Chapter 15

In the earliest hours of sunrise on Hapes, the planet seemed almost tranquil in its stillness.

At least, within the protective shelter of the Yuuzhan Vong frigate, aptly named the _Trickster_, nestled in the quiet silence of a private, locked docking bay, anyway.

Outside of these coral walls, beyond the hangar, the rest of the galaxy was beginning to come alive again, Hapans either just starting to awaken or already bustling about in preparation for their day. Pilots returning from the night shift scouting patrols would be stumbling back to their barracks, while their replacements were prepping their fighters for takeoff. In the refugee camps, beings of all walks of life and ethnicity were waking up to yet another day where they had only what little they had been able to carry with them while fleeing their homes in the wake of the Yuuzhan Vong's latest string of planetary invasions.

The refugee camp was where Kyp Durron had expected to wake up.

Instead, he'd found himself on the floor of the _Trickster_, the living ship dim and quiet in the early morning hours, and surprisingly warm considering his lack of attire.

But then again, perhaps that was because he hadn't woken up alone.

Looking down at the sleeping form of Jaina Solo, her head resting in the crook of his arm, a strange combination of emotions swelled within his chest. 

Last night had been... incredible.

Foolish, but incredible just the same.

He'd known his share of womanly touches over the years, but nothing could quite compare with Jaina. They hadn't just joined physically, but on so many levels and in so many ways that he was still struggling to comprehend. A crescendo in the Force... thought and memory blurring together... identities fading and senses bleeding into each other...

It was like nothing he'd ever experienced.

_And you never should have experienced it,_ Kyp thought darkly, wishing that he felt more guilty. Regardless of what he may have felt towards his 'apprentice', he should have been able to control himself, to resist her advances, no matter how desperately he wanted her.

He should not have been so weak.

Then again, maybe Jaina was just his weakness. After all, where even the strongest willed beings had failed to get him to do their bidding, even Master Skywalker could not reign him in, this little slip of a woman had him all but wrapped around her finger.

And the awful part was that she knew it, and had no reservations whatsoever about using it to her advantage.

Though he had no idea what she was up to now, Kyp was certain that this, like everything else she'd done since arriving on Hapes, would somehow serve to further her objectives. It was a sobering thought, and one that stung more than he was willing to admit, but it was hard not to think about, knowing how far she had fallen from grace in these past few weeks, and knowing that she had similarly ambiguous plans in mind for him.

But laying on the floor of her stolen Yuuzhan Vong frigate, with her slender body pressed against him, her skin warm on his, Kyp could not bring himself to want to undo it. 

Forget that there would be hell to pay when Han found out, that he'd probably just violated several rules of the Jedi Code. Forget that Jaina was sliding further and further into darkness, that she wasn't thinking clearly and he wasn't using good judgment.

For just a moment, Kyp wanted to just lay here with her, and forget the rest of the galaxy even existed.

Jaina shifted slightly in her sleep, moving closer as if instinctively seeking out his warmth, and despite himself, he smiled faintly, allowing his fingers to touch the strands of dark hair that had fallen across his arm as his eyes traced every gentle curve of her face.

She looked impossibly peaceful in slumber, her face soft and full of innocence, but that was as misleading as the trickery she had been employing against the Yuuzhan Vong.

Jaina Solo was anything but peaceful, and far from innocent.

Last night had more than proven that.

Fire had filled him, raising him up to explosive heights, bringing him down into wells of darkness where their twin heartbeats hammered together, then cycled upward again. It had taken him higher and further each time, then dropped him deeper. He'd soared toward the sun, then dove into depths of heavy, soothing darkness. He'd drowned, and each time he had felt the spark of life go out of him, he was rekindled again into fiery life.

By her.

The memory of it alone was enough to make his heartbeat quicken all over again. 

He had awoken feeling surprisingly well-rested, considering that last night had not been very productive as far as sleeping was concerned. Upon waking up inside the _Trickster_, he had momentarily been baffled, but as soon as he became aware of the warm body next to his, the previous night, which had lasted well into the morning to be technical about it, came rushing back.

And there was Jaina, sleeping at his side, dark hair fanned out around her and covered only with his cape.

The very cape that her father had given to him, nonetheless.

If by some miracle of the Force, Han didn't kill him on sight, it would probably only mean that his friend had even worse in store for him.

After all, Kyp had just crossed a major line, one that Han wasn't likely to overlook.

And still he didn't feel nearly as guilty for that as he should have.

Did that make him a horrible person, that he couldn't deny himself how right last night, and this morning, had felt and still did, despite the ambiguous nature of it all? That while he might regret the circumstances, he couldn't even begin to regret the act itself?

He had slept with the only daughter of Han Solo, who was probably his dearest friend, the man had rescued him from Kessel and then chased him halfway across the galaxy to talk some sense into him during the whole aftermath of his mishap with Exar Kun. In the years since, Han had always been glad to see him, even when it seemed like no one else in the galaxy was, especially during the years that Kyp had been the cause of so many of Master Skywalker's headaches.

And this was how he'd repaid that friendship?

He owed Luke Skywalker just as much of a debt as he did Han, if not more, for while half the Republic had been calling for his head after Carida, the revered Jedi Master had intervened on his behalf.

This time, though, Kyp had a feeling that he would get no mercy from Jaina's uncle.

A part of him wanted to contact Master Skywalker, to confess how everything had gone wrong and that he couldn't handle this on his own, but even if he'd resolved to do so, he had no idea where Luke and Mara had been intending to go after stopping briefly at Eclipse to reunite with Han and Leia.

And another, more selfish part of himself that he tried to ignore didn't want Luke or anyone else coming between him and Jaina.

Sighing, Kyp tried to push such troubling thoughts out of his head, willing them to go away for a while and just let him be. He would dwell on the graveness of the situation he'd gotten himself into later, as well as the possibilities for getting both himself and Jaina out it, but for now, he just wanted to lay there, listening to the steady sound of her shallow breathing next to him, and forget everything else.

_Why couldn't you just leave well enough alone?_ he asked her, watching her sleeping face.

As if she'd heard him, even deep in the realms of slumber, Jaina stirred slightly, causing his cape to slip down off of her bare shoulders to the small of her back instead.

Swallowing hard, Kyp let his eyes wander down her shoulders and across her smooth skin, and, after a moment of tortured hesitation, he lifted his hand and allowed himself to touch her. He ran his fingers over her shoulder blades lightly, the feel of her soft skin against his fingertips leaving him lightheaded.

Only Jaina had this affect on him, only she could make him forget the entire universe, could make him loose control of his thoughts, his emotions, his actions.

His sanity.

Jaina stirred again, and this time she opened her eyes, blinking at him hazily. If she was startled to wake up next to him on the floor of a Yuuzhan Vong ship wearing nothing beneath the cape draped over her, she didn't show it.

"Morning," she yawned with a sleepy half-smile, and his heart ached at how normal, how free of shadow, she sounded when she was just waking up. 

"Morning," he murmured.

She pushed up on her elbows, pulling the cape around her as she peered at him curiously. "I half expected you to be gone when I woke up," she informed him, and there was a slight challenge in her tone.

"I half intended to be," Kyp admitted without remorse.

Instead of being offended, Jaina actually smirked, looking up at him through narrowed eyes. "Changed your mind, did you?" she asked dryly. "Or did I change it for you?"

Kyp sighed, leaning his head back. "I don't know," he muttered. "I don't know much of anything anymore."

Except that last night was the most incredible night of his life.

Except that they were both in serious trouble and no one was around to pull them out.

Except that he wanted this woman, more fiercely and more entirely than he'd ever wanted anything in the whole galaxy.

He knew he shouldn't, for too many reasons to name, but he wanted her just the same. Knowing that it was wrong didn't change that, and he was beginning to doubt that anything could.

"Don't tell me you regret last night," Jaina said with a chuckle, and lifted a hand to run her fingers across his collarbone, the innocent girl he'd seen a glimpse of as she first woke up vanishing now. Her lips curled up into a seductive smirk as her dark eyes lifted to meet his own green ones. "Or this morning."

"No," Kyp muttered, forcing himself to ignore the emotions her gaze brought to life within him, the way her fingers danced across his skin. "I don't regret it."

And that was precisely the problem. He'd let her sink her claws into him, not once but several times over, and he could no longer deny the hold she had over him. A bond had grown between them over the years, but it had changed in recent months. First at Sernpidal where he had used the Force to manipulate her into helping him destroy a worldship, and then more recently here at Hapes, where they'd become partners of sorts in their war against the Yuuzhan Vong.

But last night had been different. Last night had been passionate and intimate and they'd let one another in completely, bearing their souls in ways that Kyp had never even dreamed possible. Jaina was inside him now, in his very soul, tormenting him. Their Force bond had grown to new heights, more intense and clear than anything he had ever experienced.

And it terrified him.

It would have been daunting enough to be that open, that connected, with someone even without the added weight of their current situation. Jaina was spiraling deeper into the dark side with every passing moment, and there was nothing he could do to stop her.

Worse, he was afraid that she was starting to drag him down with her.

"Good," Jaina replied, wicked mischief in her eyes. "Because otherwise, I would have to resort to divine retribution."

Snorting, Kyp gave her a skeptical look. "Divine retribution?"

"Hey, I'm a goddess, pal," she reminded him. "Everything I do is divine."

Didn't he know it.

A flicker in the Force was all the warning he had of her intentions before Jaina was leaning over him, one hand absently clutching the cape to her chest as she bent her head, lowering her soft lips to his own.

He groaned, unable to stop himself from responding, and for the next minute or so, he was completely lost in her kiss, in their shared breath, in the heat flooding between them.

When Jaina pulled away after a few moments, it was all he could do not to grab her and refuse to let her go.

"Mmm," she murmured, lips curling into a smile that was only a notch away from a smirk. "That was nice."

Kyp was in complete agreement with that statement, and his dazed, passion-drugged mind had the traitorous thought that the only thing nicer would be waking up like this every morning.

"What time is it?" Jaina asked, stretching herself back out on the floor beneath his cape, apparently not in any hurry to go anywhere, and despite himself, Kyp was pleased by that. 

"Early," he answered her question. "The sun's only about midway through its climb."

"Huh," Jaina mused in mild surprise. "This is the latest I've slept in for a few weeks."

Startled, Kyp raised an eyebrow at that. "You've been getting up before sunrise?"

He felt more than saw Jaina stiffen, and the warmth surrounding him seemed to fade back into her, as if her shields were clamping down around her again.

"I haven't been sleeping well," she explained with forced casualness, a cool undertone to her words that warned against any thoughts of pressing the subject any further. 

He pressed it anyway.

"Nightmares?" he asked knowingly, and, despite the fact that this was dangerous territory, he continued. "About your brothers?"

Jaina went remarkably still beside him, and it almost seemed as if she didn't breathe for several tense, long moments. He wouldn't have been surprised if she'd pulled away from him, even if she were to lash out at him, there was certainly enough cold outrage within her to lead to such a reaction, but he was pleasantly surprised when she did neither.

"I dream about Myrkr," she admitted in a low, empty whisper, her anguish numb in the Force. "I see Anakin falling... I feel Jacen's torture..."

"Torture?" Kyp echoed carefully.

"I didn't tell Mom or Dad," Jaina said dully. "But he suffered. I didn't feel Jacen's death because I'd blocked him out, because I was so angry with him for leaving Anakin, but before that..." Her eyes hardened with something dark and bitter. "I felt what they did to him. His death wasn't clean, they tortured him until he broke, until he wanted to die, and then they killed him."

For a long moment, Kyp didn't know what to say, so he just took that in, feeling a stab of pity for Jacen, but mostly his heart ached for Jaina. She had lost so much at Myrkr... friends- including Raynar Thul, who had been a close friend ever since her years at the Academy on Yavin Four- among the strike team's number who fell on the worldship, her brothers... 

The light.

All gone forever, save, perhaps, for the latter.

There was still time for Jaina to be saved, for her to find her way back to the light and out of the shadows, if he could only figure out what needed to be done.

"I'm sorry," he found himself whispering, and he meant it with his whole heart. 

After a short pause, Jaina replied, softly, "I know." 

They laid like that in silence that was strangely comfortable, and companionable, for a while, but Kyp couldn't have even begun to guess how long. His eyes fell closed briefly, succumbing to the peaceful moment, and when he opened them again, it was to the sound of Jaina's contented sigh.

"I don't think my legs have any feeling left in the," she announced wryly. "So I vote we skip working on the _Trickster_ until tomorrow, you can let Vanguard Two run the squadron today, and we'll just lay here all day without moving. How does that sound?"

It sounded tempting, very tempting, but Kyp knew he'd never get things sorted out that way.

He needed some time away from Jaina to clear his head, to wrap his mind around everything that had happened, changing everything between them in the blink of an eye, and going up with the Vanguards this afternoon would give him the perfect opportunity to do so.

"I'd prefer not to leave the squadron in Two's hands unless it's absolutely necessary," he responded, in a carefully neutral tone, but a faint smirk ended up tugging its way onto his lips just the same. "Besides, a certain Wookiee Jedi will be making his way here soon enough to start tinkering with the ship, and I don't think it would be a good idea for him to happen across the two of us like this."

That was an understatement, the thought of Lowbacca's violent reaction was enough to make him grimace.

"Hmm," Jaina mused in twisted amusement. "You do have a point there."

"Forget a point," Kyp retorted. "I'd just like to still have my arms attached to my body at the end of the day."

"Yes," Jaina murmured, dark eyes raking over his chest as her lips curved up in an appreciative smirk. "We wouldn't want to damage you, now would we?"

"No," he agreed, relying on Jedi detachment to ignore the affect her words had on him. "We really don't."

"Don't worry," Jaina drawled, sultry and low. "I'll protect you."

And who was going to protect him _from_ her?

He would just have to find the strength of will to keep his distance from Jaina for a while, until he had some idea of how to go about pulling her back from the shadows where she'd fallen, before she pulled him down into the dark, mirky waters with her.

An instant later, though, when she let his cape fall away from her body and leaned over to kiss him, he convinced himself that there was no harm in letting those thoughts wait another day.


	16. Chapter 16

Steam billowed out into the room, fogging up the holoreflector.

Wrapping the absorbent cloth around herself, Jaina closed the door to the refresher and toweled off her wet hair with the extra towel hanging on the wall.

A long, hot shower had been just what she needed to work the soreness out of her muscles.

Sleeping on the spongy floor of a Yuuzhan Vong frigate, while softer than the deck of most mechanical ships, was still murder on a girl's back, Jedi or not.

Then again, sleep hadn't really been a top priority last night.

Or this morning.

With a small, smug smile, she slipped back into the palace bedroom that she'd been given for the duration of her stay on Hapes, tossing the towel she'd been using to dry her hair over her shoulder so that it fluttered down to the floor of the refresher unit.

Sauntering over to the luxurious bed in the center of the room, Jaina stretched out upon it with a contented sigh, more than a little pleased with herself.

After all, she'd brought a powerful Jedi Master to his knees.

It amused her how easily Kyp Durron had come unraveled at her feet, how a single touch was enough to shatter his resolve, but it also intrigued her. She had known, from previous encounters, that his feelings for her ran deeper than he would have cared for her to realize, but she hadn't been aware of just how valuable that information might be until now.

Until last night.

She hadn't even had to put that much of an effort into seducing him, he'd been more than willing to participate once she got him to admit that he wanted her.

And he wanted her quite desperately, it seemed.

It had been his inner turmoil, those pesky doubts, that awakened her from slumber in the first place, and she had not been pleased to divine the nature of his thoughts. She'd quickly banished them, redirecting his attention back where it belonged, on her and the fact that she was wearing nothing under that cape of his, but it had only been a temporary distraction in the end.

Despite her efforts to keep him there, Kyp had eventually broken away from her, insisting that he had work to do with the Vanguards, so Jaina had allowed him to leave.

Because no matter what he told himself, she knew he would be back.

And deep down, Kyp knew it, too.

That was why he had been almost frantic to get away from the Trickster this morning, and from her, lest his strength falter and he cave in again, spending the rest of the day in her arms the way he had the night before.

_Pity you're determined to be all noble, Master Durron,_ Jaina thought with a soft chuckle. _I would have made it worth your while._

As irritating as his reluctance to just give in and accept his place at her side was, she had to admit that it also amused her to an extent. Watching him put up a good, but futile, fight against it might even turn out to be entertaining, making the moment when he finally submitted to her all the more enjoyable.

Still, it would be unforgivably careless of her not to consider the possibility that Kyp might run, upon realizing that he couldn't possibly win.

The handsome young Jedi Master was a stubborn and willful man, with a great deal of pride, but she wouldn't put it past him to try and leave Hapes unnoticed if he thought it was the only way to keep himself from slipping into her clutches. It was a sense of self-preservation as much as anything else, and if there was one thing that Kyp Durron was good at it, it was taking care of number one.

Not that he was getting such a bad deal out of it, though. In Jaina's opinion, it really was a win-win situation for both of them.

She got him as an ally, complete with all the furious power the package came with.

And he got her.

_I'll just have to make sure he sees the benefits to sticking around, _Jaina mused with a smirk, gazing up at her reflection on the reflective panels of the ceiling over her bed. Her hair was two shades darker when wet, and it seemed to make her eyes look darker, as well, giving her a rather alluring appearance.

She made a mental note to go with the wet look more often, at least around Kyp.

It might secure more nights, and mornings, like the one they'd just shared.

Her smirk fading, Jaina sighed and fingered a strand of wet hair absently, finally allowing herself to consider the events of last night, and then of this morning.

She still wasn't quite sure what had possessed her to seduce him the way she had, other than the fact that getting him to look at her as a lover, an equal, instead of an apprentice made it all the easier to distract him from her less savory activities, the ones that she knew he wouldn't approve of. 

If that had been the only reason, she could have lived with that, it only furthered her objectives and she certainly wasn't opposed to making such pleasant sacrifices, but it wasn't, and that troubled her.

Of course she found Kyp attractive, she'd have to be blind not to, and even then his charismatic presence would have carried over through the Force. That dark hair, those intense emerald green eyes, that lean, muscular body that she now knew more intimately than even Kyp himself... he was a work of art, a remarkable specimen of what a Jedi Master should be.

And he was powerful.

At the tender age of sixteen, Kyp had fallen under the sway of the spirit of a long-dead Sith Lord named Exar Kun, and in a short period of time, he had done quite a bit of damage. With Kun's assistance, he had nearly killed Jaina's uncle, putting Luke into a coma while the Jedi Master's spirit wandered about the Great Temple morosely, unable to contact or communicate with anyone but her and Jacen, a pair of Jedi toddlers not even yet three.

But the true monument to his ruthlessness, if not his power, was Carida. 

And entire planet destroyed, millions of lives ended in a split second, including that of his own brother Zeth, whom he had believed dead.

Kyp had come back from the dark side all those years ago, with help from her father and her uncle, but he had never been able to wash away the blood from his hands. The scars of the dark side went deep, and they never faded, no matter how much time came to pass.

There was still darkness in Kyp Durron, strong and relentless.

She just had to figure out how to tap into that darkness, and unleash it in her favor.

_Imagine what you could do together,_ a small voice inside of her whispered, silky and seductive. _Imagine what you could do to the Yuuzhan Vong..._

Oh, she could imagine all right. She'd been imagining it, consciously or otherwise, for a while now.

But the real question was, could she trust him?

Here was a man who didn't approve of her tactics, but hadn't really gone out of his way to stop them. A man who had once destroyed an entire world, and was capable of much more.

A man who had once betrayed her. 

When her uncle Luke sent her to find Kyp and bring him back with her, so that the two Jedi Masters could talk again and hopefully come to some sort of agreement, Jaina had been caught off-guard by the older Jedi's flirtation, and the strange, stomach-fluttering affect that his smile had on her.

Now she understood that reaction, now she knew that Kyp had taken some deeply buried feeling within her and exploited it, using the Force to enhance that faint emotion so that it served his own purpose.

In that case, getting her to help him deceive General Antilles and the Rogues, so they'd help him destroy a worldship.

Naturally, Jaina had not been pleased when she realized all of this, she'd even gone as far as to slap him across the face, but she had to concede that it had been a very effective strategy.

One that she was determined to put to good use herself.

_I wonder when you're going to realize,_ she thought wryly, flashing her reflection on the ceiling a wicked grin. _That the apprentice has become the Master._

Using Kyp's own tricks against him was more enjoyable than she could have guessed.

And the results that that they had produced so far had been nothing short of stellar, and more than a little gratifying.

It turned out that Kyp was well-versed in more than just kissing.

Through the deep bond she had forged with Mara during her apprenticeship, Jaina had inadvertently learned more than she needed to know about the relationship between her aunt and uncle, and even though it was just a glimmering of knowledge, of the realization that intimacy went to an entirely new level between two Jedi, it had nearly scarred her for life at the age of fifteen. 

Now that she was older, though, Jaina could appreciate that intensity of closeness, because not only did it make it all the easier to manipulate Kyp, it also made sleeping with him all the more fervent and lascivious, taking her to heights she had never imagined possible.

It was more than just the stamina or the way every sensation was jointly shared between the two of them, regardless of which of them actually experienced it, it was as if the entire galaxy shifted under their passion.

Stars exploded behind her eyes and black holes stretched wider and wider, yawning nebulas spiraling as they expanded, entire galaxies clustering together as they grew larger and larger, until size lost all meaning and she felt herself falling over the edge.

And as she fell, all she could see was an endless sea of green.

Something like lightning had trembled between them with every touch, with every kiss, with every breath spilling across bare skin.

It was as if she had been standing in the dark, lost and blind, and suddenly a brilliant flash of light, without color of any kind, illuminated everything, allowing her to see farther than she'd ever seen before.

The more she gave, the more she got back.

It was a cycle, taking them higher and higher, not so unlike the sensation of flying, only without an X-wing or a ship around them.

In the afterglow, as they lay spent on the spongy floor of the Yuuzhan Vong frigate, their hearts slowly spiraling back down to a slow, steady pace and their floating perceptions fading back into the confines of their bodies, Jaina had come to the conclusion that this was what all the tension between them was for in the first place.

This union, this joining on more than just the physical level, was the way it was meant to be.

No matter how much he fought against it, no matter how noble he tried to be by attempting to deny himself what he wanted, what he knew in the very core of his being was right, Kyp would eventually come to that realization, as well.

All she had to do was get him to shed those pesky Jedi inhibitions first. 

_Have you convinced yourself that you can stay away yet, lover?_ Jaina wondered wryly.

Over the past few hours since he'd slipped away to work with his squadron, she had picked up the occasional flicker from her roguish Jedi Master, tinged with guilt and full of inner conflict.

She knew that he had sworn to himself that it would not happen again, that he would not allow it to happen, and she rather pitied the hopeless fool for his naivety. It was inevitable that they end up there again, perhaps even here in this very bed the next time, and she would take great pleasure in seeing how far she could push him before he broke.

"Hmm," Jaina murmured thoughtfully, glancing at the chrono on the wall. "If I'm right, Vanguard Squadron should be in the sims right now." 

Oh, did that every have possibilities.

Closing her eyes, her wet hair fanned out around her head on her pillow, Jaina turned inward, falling into the eternal current of the Force and letting it fill her very being, lifting her out of the boundaries of the physical world around her and into an entirely different plane. 

Reaching out across the Force link between them, Jaina found Kyp in the sim chambers, just as she had expected, in the middle of running a sim with the Vanguards, but the Jedi Master's attention was not on the flight simulation. His body was running on autopilot, movements being guided by the Force, while his mind was distracted. 

By thoughts of her.

She would have smirked, had the nature of his whirlwind thoughts been less troubling.

Without alerting him to her presence, she could not get a clear reading, but she doubted his chaotic thoughts were much more organized than the jumbled, unruly mess tumbling into her mind through the Force.

_Got to stay away... broke rules... just a child, too young... not in the right state of mind, took advantage... Han kill me... too dangerous... worth the risk, no, nothing worth that... it calls to me, through her... need to clear my head... got to find a way to save her..._

Scowling, Jaina decided that she was going to have to play dirty.

Focusing intently, she called to mind an image of their night together- the heat of his bare skin on hers, their breathless gasps in the throes of passion, white fire surging up within them about to explode- and hurled it mercilessly in Kyp's direction.

The affect was instantaneous.

Kyp faltered, the sim forgotten as his eyes fell closed and his pulse quickened.

Unbidden, Kyp's mind fell back in time and place, even more vivid details coming to life behind his closed eyed, of lips trailing down hot, smooth skin, of hearts pounding together in a primal rhythm and the earth moving beneath them.

With a smirk, Jaina latched onto that memory and made it her own, mastering it and bending it to her will.

The image changed, becoming real and tangible between them, and she tangled her fingers into his dark hair as it fell loose around his face, pulling his head down to hers so that their lips crashed together, pouring as much lust and desire as possible into the fiercely passionate kiss.

Hands roamed freely, with wild abandon, and through the Force emotions surged, fueling the wanton hunger ravaging between them.

For too short of a moment, albeit a heady and blissful one, Kyp gave in, groaning as they sunk deeper into the psychic embrace, his heart hammering in his chest as phantom touches and caresses danced over his body. Caught up in the moment, Jaina, too, nearly lost herself in the moment, in the mental coupling as it soared higher and higher. 

Until one of Kyp's pilots called out to him over the comm-links in their simulators, asking if he was okay.

And just like that, it was over.

Vanguard Seven's ill-timed words had sharply jolted Kyp out of his trance and back to the reality of the flight simulation chamber, where he had just been shot down during a sim in which he had previously never even lost his shields, due to lack of attention.

_You should probably work on that,_ Jaina advised, unable to keep from smirking.

The only reply she got was a nonverbal growl, full of frustration and desperation, and then she was shoved out of his head and back into her own body. Kyp slammed the link between them closed violently, dampening the connection and then smothering it with his shields, to keep her from trying it again.

Laying on her bed in the palace, Jaina opened her eyes to find her reflection grinning down at her from the reflective ceiling overhead, and chuckled.

"You're as good as mine, Durron," she murmured smugly. "Fight it all you want, sooner or later you'll see the truth. You belong at my side."

And together, they would bring the Yuuzhan Vong empire to its knees.

It was their destiny.


	17. Chapter 17

For five hours, forty-two minutes and nineteen seconds, Kyp Durron had been distracted, completely and entirely, by thoughts of nothing but Jaina Solo.

And less than pure thoughts at that.

_You'd think the air would cool me off,_ he thought bitterly.

Nights on Hapes were usually fairly warm, at least in the cities, but the further you traveled away from the capitol, into the forests and the wild lands, the temperature began to drop as the air grew cooler. 

On the desolate mountainside, the change in temperature was quite drastic.

As cold as it was, though, Kyp had no intentions of leaving, because there wasn't really anywhere else that he could go right now. The refugee camp wasn't safe, Jaina would come looking for him there, and there was nowhere in the city that she wouldn't be able to find him.

And he had no doubt that she would be looking for him.

He told himself that he wasn't hiding, that he had come to the top of the mountain seeking solitude and quiet, so that he could turn inward and ask the Force for guidance, but the truth was that he was hiding, and he knew it. 

Hiding from a tiny slip of a woman who frightened him more than a hundred Sith Lords could have.

_But are you more frightened of what you know she's capable of? _he asked himself. _Or the fact that a part of you doesn't care?_

Groaning, Kyp laid back across the high, flat stone and stared up at the twin moons high overhead.

That was a question that had been plaguing him for a while now, ever since Gallinore, really, but he still had no answer to it, at least not one that he was willing to admit to.

The dark side was a part of him and always would be, he had accepted that a long time ago. There was no cure for it, no way to erase the scars that it left, no antidote for the whispers that occasionally rose up in the back of his mind, their promises silky and seductive as they urged him to embrace the anger swirling inside of him.

But he had grown accustomed to that, as had other Jedi who had fallen from the light and then found it again. Master Skywalker, Master Solusar, even one of Jaina's friends from the Academy, Zekk, had all lived with the aftermath of their falls, just as Kyp had for over a decade now. For the most part, the dark side was silent within them, the light having driven it into dormancy, but every once and a while, the whispers would stir.

The Yuuzhan Vong had brought those whispers back again.

With each world that fell to the invaders, with every sacrifice to their false gods and the genocide of billions of sentient beings, the whispers grew louder. Every Jedi death, whether in combat or hunted down by the voxyn or betrayed by the Peace Brigade and handed over to the enemy, cut deeply, and only fueled the shadow flickering within him. 

Despite it all, despite the long, hard years of torment and grief that the Yuuzhan Vong had brought to the galaxy, Kyp had not allowed the voices to overwhelm him.

Oh, he had been skirting the edges of ambiguous actions for a while now, and he finally understood why Luke had been so concerned about that, but it had never occurred to Kyp until now that he might have been making himself even more vulnerable to the dark side's whispers with his stance that aggression was acceptable in the face of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion.

Being faced with Jaina's own terrifying fall had given him a much needed slap in the face.

_She always did have a thing for hitting me,_ Kyp noted dully, and for a moment his cheek stung again with the powerful strike of her hand after Sernpidal.

A part of him would have preferred the angry Jaina, who'd been full of loathing for him, to this new Jaina who went after what she wanted with ruthless determination, who clearly wanted him, for whatever purpose her twisted little mind had come up with.

Another part of him, though, which was much larger than he would have liked, couldn't have endured that.

Having her hate him again, after knowing what it was to be so close to her, would have killed him.

And that was precisely what had driven him into the public forest and up into the craggy overhangings of the mountain in the first place.

After the little psychic rendezvous that she had pulled on him earlier in the day, he knew that he had to keep his guard up from now on, whether she was close by or not.

Because it could not happen again.

If it did, he wasn't sure he would have the strength to push her away.

It had been so real... the feel of her skin against his, hot and soft, the familiar scent of her hair as he buried his face into it, the sound of her breathless gasps as she called his name... the flight simulation had been completely forgotten, as if it had been nothing but a dream, and all he'd been able to see or touch or taste was her, as if she had truly been there in his arms.

And, to his self-disgust, upon realizing that she hadn't been, that it was just an illusion, he'd wanted her to be.

_You're pathetic, Durron,_ he told himself, scowling up at the stars overhead. _When did you get so weak?_

But Jaina just had this affect on him, one he couldn't seem to shake or deny. It had been there even before their relationship, whatever that really was, turned intimate, and he could no more explain it now than he could then.

The past few hours had been spent in futile attempts at meditation, but his thoughts were too unfocused for it to be of much use. He couldn't stop remembering how soft and silky her skin was, how her slender little body seemed to fit perfectly with his, how their hearts had pounded together in primal unison.

And he could still smell Jaina's scent all over him.

He couldn't stop reliving the previous night, and this time he knew it was not Jaina forcing him to remember every detail of their encounter, but his own traitorous mind working against him.

"Kill me," Kyp moaned. "Just kill me."

How was he supposed to get out of this mess? 

The last twenty-four hours had proven that he was incapable of handling this on his own, and yet there was no one to turn to for help. Lowbacca was entirely too loyal to Jaina, too blinded by affection to see what was happening to her, and Tenel Ka was out of the question.

Bringing the Hapan princess into this would only push Jaina further into the gnarled tangle of the dark side. 

So what was he supposed to do? Find a comm-station and contact Shelter to confess to Master Skywalker and the rest of Jaina's family, including a blaster-armed Han Solo and a very temperamental Mara Jade Skywalker, that he had spent the better part of the previous night, and this morning, in the throes of passion with their little girl?

That would go over well.

And even if he threw himself on Mara's lightsaber, which would be precisely what happened if he called them, what would it change? Suppose that Luke put aside everything he was doing at the moment and came to Hapes, how would that really help at this point?

Besides, if Jaina got any inkling that her uncle was coming, she might very well disappear.

And with the war raging across the galaxy, and the Jedi spread so thin, it would be all too easy for her to vanish, quite possibly for years.

Kyp didn't want that, the very thought of that possibility was enough to cause his heart to sink. The thought of losing Jaina was even worse than the thought of staying, and no matter how hard he looked at the situation, no matter how much he turned to the Force for guidance, he couldn't find a solution to this mess that didn't end in tragedy.

He wanted Jaina.

He wanted her so badly that he would have done anything to have her, to claim her, and that terrified him.

The dark side worked in subtle, dangerous ways, and Kyp was not so oblivious that he wasn't aware that it was trying to lure him back into its clutches through Jaina. What he wanted most of all, what everything being a Jedi meant that he should be rejecting, was being dangled in front of his face.

_She wants you,_ an inner voice that he'd been struggling to ignore as of late murmured in his ear, silky and seductive. _You want her. What's the big deal? You've seen how deeply she desires you, it's in her eyes, so why not take her? Why not make her yours?_

"Because it's not right," Kyp replied aloud, his voice thick with frustration and desperation. "Because I'm a Jedi."

_So is she,_ the voice mocked him. _That hasn't stopped her, now has it?_

Growling, Kyp shoved the voice aside, smothering it out, and sighed, closing his eyes.

As much as he might want Jaina, as much as he needed her, it wasn't right and that was that. This morning, he had awoken feeling conflicted about how he was supposed to feel about everything, it had been hard to think with Jaina's soft body pressed against his side, watching her peaceful face as she slept.

Now, though, with distance and clarity, he felt horribly guilty.

And he felt like he had taken advantage of her.

Jaina was not in her right state of mind right now, she wasn't herself and she wasn't thinking clearly, so it wasn't right for him to be with her, to take her the way he had. The dark side was clouding her judgment, making her do things that she normally wouldn't even consider, and he of all people should know that.

_She hated me after Sernpidal,_ he reminded himself bitterly. _I betrayed her trust, used her, and she told me she'd never even spit on me if I was dying of thirst on Tatooine._

If he managed to save her, to pull her back from the darkness, she was going to hate him even more now.

And she'd probably resort to more violent methods than a mere slap across the face this time.

A lightsaber to his throat would probably be about right, and he wouldn't be able to bring himself to stop her, not when he deserved every measure of her outraged wrath.

It wasn't exactly a happy prospect, and Kyp didn't really want to dwell on it, especially not right now. The last thing he needed was anything else to make it harder to save her, anything else to tempt him into going to her, seeking solace and comfort in her embrace and in her bed.

Because it would be all too easy to just give up, to lose himself here in her.

The galaxy was a vast, cold place, he knew that better than anyone, but it had never seemed quite so empty until now, until the prospect of losing Jaina. And it was a terrible temptation, the knowledge that he could keep her all to himself, that he could prevent the scenario he was dreading, where he was denied even the simple grace of being near her, if he just quite fighting her and let go of his kriffing idealism.

He didn't know if he would be able to save her, he didn't even know if he would be able to save himself, all he knew was that he wasn't strong enough to resist her for long, and they both knew it.

If he was going to protect himself, and Jaina, he was going to have to stay far away from her for now.

He wasn't quite sure how he was going to manage that yet, not when their paths were bound to cross again soon, most likely in the next day or two considering that he would have to return to the city because of his Vanguard duties and she would be in such close proximity, just a few buildings over, that he might go crazy simply sensing her.

Tonight, though, he didn't have to worry about any of that.

Upon finishing up with the Vanguards, Kyp had come to the grim realization that he needed to lay low for a while, to get some distance from Jaina until he could figure something out, and so he had set out for the one place on Hapes that he knew she would not follow.

The flat stone that had born Anakin Solo's body as the flames devoured him was strangely warm beneath his back, as if the energy that had been dispersed here still lingered.

It was peaceful here, even if he was anything but at the moment.

And Kyp knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Jaina would never return to this place.

The air was full of memory here, of sadness and love for a young Jedi who had died too young, with too much work left unfinished, and it would be too painful for her to even think of setting foot here.

Which was precisely why Kyp had come here in the first place.

"I wish you were here, Anakin," he murmured heavily, brushing hair out of his eyes. "I could use your help right about now, kid." 

Anakin, he was certain, would know how to get through to Jaina.

But, then again, if Anakin were here, Jaina might never have turned to the dark side at all. After all, it had been his death at Myrkr that sent her catapulting into the waiting embrace of the darkness, and Jacen's death, so soon after that of their little brother, had only secured her place there.

And as it was, Kyp was the only one here to save her.

"It's all Master Skywalker's fault," he muttered. "He should never have left, not when he knew Jaina was in trouble. If he'd stayed, none of this would be happening."

It still baffled him that Jaina's entire family, especially Luke, had essentially abandoned her to this fate. Luke, of all people, knew how deadly the dark side was, knew that it was impossibly hard to turn someone back from that path once they started down it.

The Emperor had nearly killed him before Luke's pain had reached out to Darth Vader, calling the Sith Lord to turn on his Master in order to save his son.

So why, for Force sake, had Luke not come to save Jaina?

_Why did he leave this burden up to me? _Kyp raged silently, and he wasn't ashamed to admit that he was angry.

Master Skywalker was supposed to be the most powerful Jedi in the Order, the most powerful Force-sensitive in the galaxy, with his sister's raw, albeit untrained, power possibly his only equal.

And yet he had failed, and was failing still, every day that he was not here. 

"It's all your fault, Skywalker," he insisted again, this time sharper and full of bitterness as he sat up. "Where are you when I need you? When Jaina needs you?"

Couldn't Luke tell that this was too much for him? Wasn't he aware that Kyp wasn't strong enough for this? How could Luke possibly not understand what was happening here, to Jaina, and to him?

"Tell me," Kyp growled, swinging his legs over the edge of the stone and climbing down, throwing out his arms as he glared out at the stars. "Where are you? What's so kriffing important that you can't spare the time to try and save your only niece's soul, huh?" 

He was shouting now, and trembling from his head to his toes, but he didn't care.

"Why the sith aren't you here?!" 

There was no answer of course, not that he'd expected there to be.

Only empty, lonely silence.

Feeling his anger drain out of him, Kyp collapsed back against the stone, shoulders sagging, exhausted and on the edge of defeat.

"Why aren't you here, Master?" he whispered.

Maybe it was a sign, maybe Luke had already seen all of this and realized that Kyp was a lost cause, that he would just drag Jaina down with him somehow in the end, and he'd decided it wasn't worth the effort to bother. 

No, Kyp shook that dark thought off as soon as it came. Master Skywalker wouldn't do that.

And even if he could believe that Luke might write him off, he knew that Luke could never do the same to Jaina.

Regardless of whatever reason or justification there was for Master Skywalker's absence, Kyp knew one thing with absolute, Jedi certainty.

He was on his own now. 

_Sleep is too risky, _he thought grimly, using the Force to call his pack from where he'd set it down a few feet away. He began to pull out the sleeping mat and portable tent he'd procured back in the city, his jaw set firmly with determination. _I'm not giving Jaina the chance to invade my dreams tonight._

There was no telling what might happen if she did.

Instead, he would have to settle for a Jedi trance, and pray to the Force for not only strength, but a dreamless night.


	18. Chapter 18

The Force hated him.

It was the only possible explanation.

Despite his every attempt to ensure a safe, dreamless sleep every night for the past three days, Kyp Durron had been plagued with dreams that would have made a Corellian space pirate blush.

As a result, he wasn't exactly well-rested these days, and it was showing.

He didn't need a reflector to know that he looked terrible, he could feel it, even without the Force. His eyes were bleary, there was several days worth of stubble on his face, and his entire body ached, feeling stiff and yet pliable all at once, as if all his muscles had gone loose with fatigue.

None of his pilots had said anything, but he'd heard their thoughts.

Some were wagering that he'd had a really rough night of drinking at the celebration, and the hangover was lingering over the course of a few days, which was ridiculous considering he was a Jedi and could dispel any hangover at will, no matter how bad it might have been.

Others theorized that his pitiful state was meant that the war was getting to him, or that somewhere Jedi were dying.

A select few, Seth included, suspected that he'd had some kind of fight with Jaina.

They were the closest to the mark, thinking it was just a lover's quarrel, and yet none of them even remotely had a clue as to what was going on.

How could they, when Kyp wasn't even sure he fully knew himself?

Seemingly by some miracle of the Force, he had been able to avoid Jaina ever since he'd quickly dressed and left her aboard the _Trickster_ the morning after the celebration.

But Kyp knew that it wasn't the Force behind that.

It was Jaina.

She was purposefully letting him avoid her, and he wasn't sure what that meant yet, much less how he felt about it. Had she lost interest so quickly? Was she just busy with her goddess trickery and trying to master the rest of the Vong technology aboard the frigate she had stolen from Nom Anor?

Or was she just biding her time before the next strike?

Knowing Jaina, it was probably the latter, and that was nothing short of worrisome.

And going out of his way to avoid her, both physically and through the Force, was beginning to take its toll on the young Jedi Master. Despite himself, he found that he was painfully aware of her absence these days, and though he didn't want to admit it, he missed her presence.

_Maybe that was her plan all along,_ Kyp mumbled to himself, yanking off his flight gloves. _Let me drive myself into the ground without any help from her._

He wouldn't put it past her to do something like that, Jaina was more vindictive than he'd ever suspected.

And she clearly hadn't liked that he was trying to resist her.

It was unsettling to have her avoiding him in return, and he was beginning to suspect that she was doing just that, or at least that she was making a point of not crossing paths with him. While he knew that he ought to be relieved about that, grateful even, he wasn't even remotely so, and that just unsettled him even more.

What was Jaina up to?

Was she trying to see how long he could hold out?

Or was she just waiting for him to break and come crawling back to her on his own?

_Well, if that's what she's doing,_ he thought with a scowl. _She's wasting her time, because I'm not going to break._

Really.

He wasn't.

It didn't matter that every time he closed his eyes, he could see her writhing-

_Don't go there,_ he ordered himself sharply. _Do. Not. Go. There._

Going there would kill him, as surely as a lightsaber through the heart.

And so he wouldn't go there, and he wouldn't think about it or about her, and he'd forget how soft her skin was and the way she tasted and everything would be fine.

"Even I don't believe you, Durron," he muttered to himself.

Sighing, Kyp leaned back in the cockpit of his X-wing, removed his helmet, and rested his head back against the head restraint cushion wearily.

He was not having a good day.

Not at all.

The last night of decent sleep he'd had was the night he'd spent on the floor of the Yuuzhan Vong frigate with Jaina, and that wasn't saying much considering how little they had actually slept.

"I feel like a spice addict," he muttered under his breath. "One who's gone a few too many days without a fix."

It would certainly explain his inability to concentrate.

Today's agenda hadn't been anything complicated, just some simple practice maneuvers with the squadron, in preparation for the Yuuzhan Vong's inevitable return to Hapes, but even that had proven too difficult for him to focus on completely.

Thinking about Jaina was going to get him killed one of these days.

But there were worse things than death, and lately he'd come to fully understand that.

Things like despair and anger, fear and hate... all of which lead, inevitably, to the dark side and destruction.

And all of which were currently hovering just on the horizon.

_Force, I need a day off,_ Kyp groaned to himself.

No, what he really needed was a nice, long vacation.

Preferably somewhere nice and warm, but not too humid. Somewhere like Mon Calamari, where he could sun himself out on the sandy ridges that served as beaches on the outer rims of the floating cities.

And suddenly, unbidden, he remembered the dream he'd had just before their trip to Gallinore.

The blissful dream where he had been stretched out on one of Mon Calamari's beaches, with a peaceful and content Jaina next to him, the sun's rays catching her strands of her hair and lightening the dark tresses. The beach had been deserted, save for the two of them, and the Force had been as warm as the sun overhead around them, full of light and love and laughter.

It was, he realized, the dream he kept safe in his heart.

The dream that someday, somehow, everything would turn out the way he wanted it to, the way it was supposed to, and that they would be happy and at peace.

And free of shadow.

_Scratch Mon Calamari, then,_ Kyp sighed. _I'll never be able to go there now, I'd be surrounded by thoughts of Jaina the entire time._

Why was it that everything reminded him of her these days?

The previous morning, while trudging back to the refugee camp to change into his flightsuit and grab some breakfast at the food distribution center, he'd made a face at the rations they were given, and instantly recalled Jaina's grumbling en route to Gallinore about how the Yuuzhan Vong had fed her better tasting stuff on Myrkr than the paste they'd been given as rations for their trip.

And just this afternoon, he had seen a glimpse of dark hair through the crowd, and he'd been certain it was her for a moment, but as soon as she passed, he'd realized his mistake.

The girl had looked nothing like Jaina, and if he'd been paying attention to the Force, he would have known it wasn't her from the start.

But maybe a part of him had wanted it to be her.

Something inside of him was aching for her, and it had nothing to do with any physical want or need, although those were certainly plentiful.

He hadn't even known until that night aboard the _Trickster_ that he was incomplete, but one night with Jaina had made him realize just how large of a void there was inside of him, a piece of him, a part of him, that he'd been unconsciously searching for all his life. A part that he'd always vaguely missed, but now that he knew what it was, now that he'd felt it and tasted it, he missed it with a fierceness that alarmed him.

When he'd slept with Jaina, it had been more than just the physical pleasure, which had been considerable, it had been something deeper and something more profound.

For a time, he had known what true bliss was, what it was to be in utter and complete harmony with the Force and its rippling currents around them. The rest of Hapes, the rest of the galaxy, really, had ceased to exist, and there was only the two of them, on some plane higher than anything he'd ever imagined, much less known.

And no matter how hard he fought it, no matter how much he denied it, everything inside of him wanted to experience that again, to recapture that feeling.

A light on his console flashed, signaling a message from the battered Q9 astromech droid in place behind his cockpit.

I HAVE TAKEN THE LIBERTY OF OPENING YOUR CANOPY, KYP DURRON, Zero-One informed him, the droid's oddly sarcastic wording, that had long since convinced Kyp that the Mon Calamari philosopher who owned him previously had given him a sense of humor. SINCE YOU SEEM UNABLE TO FUNCTION PROPERLY. PERHAPS YOU NEED MAINTENANCE.

"Maybe you're right, Zero," Kyp chuckled mirthlessly, as the canopy began to slide back. "And thanks."

Throwing aside his crash-webbing, Kyp placed a hand on the side of the cockpit, ignoring the ladder being pushed up against his X-wing, and vaulted over the side, landing lightly on the floor of the hangar without his boots making so much as a single sound.

The rest of his pilots were already on the ground, chatting amongst themselves as they slowly drifted towards the doors.

Seth, however, made a casual, or as casual as premeditated action could be, beeline for Kyp.

"Hey, boss?" Seth asked, eyeing him hesitantly as he came to a stop next to him. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kyp said wearily.

"You sure?"

"Yes," Kyp assured him, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "I'm just tired, that's..."

He trailed off then, as a distinctive and unmistakable presence stirred in the Force, and close enough to take him by surprise, since he had not felt her approaching.

Simultaneously, he was filled with both dread and relief, and not even he could explain the conflicting nature of those emotions, he only knew that the prospect of seeing her made him wary and yet eager all at once. There was no logic to any of it, and he decided it would be pointless to try and rationalize his reaction when he had other things to worry about at the moment.

Like how he was going to get out of here before Jaina got to him first.

Instinctively, his gaze flickered to the two exits from the hangar, but his feet didn't move, not yet, it was as if they were glued to the floor.

_It won't hurt to just look at her for a moment,_ he told himself reasonably. _To just take a quick peek._

Just one little look, and then he would leave.

The cynic in him laughed at that, marveling at his own stupidity, but before he could stop himself, he was turning in the direction that he sensed her blazing presence, his eyes scanning the bustling hangar for any sign of the young Jedi woman with whom he'd recently become enamored.

At first he didn't see her, and a wave of disappointment swept through him, even as his gaze made a second sweep.

This time, he spotted her right away.

Dressed in formfitting black fighting pants and a black low-cut top that was entirely inappropriate for her to be wearing in front of anyone who wasn't him, Jaina was talking to one of the flight technicians off along the right side of the hangar, nodding at whatever the man was saying, but clearly irritated.

As if sensing him staring at her, Jaina glanced up in his direction, their eyes meeting, and flashed him a bright smile that did something strange to his stomach, and to his heart, before turning back to the technician.

_Force, she's beautiful,_ Kyp thought, accompanied by a surge of affection and devotion for the woman across the room that was entirely unacceptable given the circumstances and the gravity of their perilous current situation, but he couldn't help it.

Jaina Solo was a gorgeous woman.

And apparently he wasn't the only one noticing.

"Now that is one kriffing supernova of a woman," one of his pilots, a young Hapan male not much older than Jaina, murmured appreciatively from just to his left, and Kyp could feel the kid's eyes tracing over Jaina's curves in a manner that led him to consider poking them out and blinding him.

Stiffening, Kyp turned to glare at the Gye, something dark and ugly and possessive rearing its head inside of him.

It must have shown in his eyes, because the kid's leering smile immediately fell away, replaced with apprehension, and he mumbled something inaudible, a pathetic excuse for an apology no doubt.

"Don't worry," Seth told him, with a smile that wasn't quite easy and didn't really do much to ease the furious tension clenching through his body. "Gye's just being a dumb kid. We all know she's your woman."

"She's not..." Kyp began to protest, then stopped.

Jaina wasn't technically his woman, but they didn't need to know that, now did they?

In fact, better that they think she was, so they stayed far away from her and kept their eyes in their sockets where they belonged.

Movement caught his eye, and he turned his attention back to Jaina, as she strolled across the hangar, her conversation with the technician apparently concluded.

Swallowing, Kyp tensed, anticipating her approach

And was sorely disappointed.

Instead of coming towards him, Jaina headed for one of the exits, and slipped out the door without so much as a backward glance in his direction.

Kyp stared after her, not liking that she hadn't even looked back at him, and even more displeased with how deeply that fact bothered him, when it should have been nothing but a relief.

He was trying to stay away from her, after all.

Trying and succeeding, he might add. And his heart was not aching, longing to reach out after her, nor was he tempted to follow her.

Not even remotely.

"Remotes," Kyp muttered. "I need to find a couple of training remotes."

Some lightsaber practice would help clear his mind and enable him to focus his thoughts, that was all.

It wasn't a distraction, he didn't need one of those.

Because he was resisting Jaina just fine on his own, and he had no doubt he could continue to do so, no matter how revealing a top she might happen to be wearing, or how her tight fighting pants had clung to the slender muscles of her long, strong legs and her...

Remotes.

He really needed to find those remotes.

Maybe he'd get lucky and one would stun him, knocking him out cold for a few hours.


	19. Chapter 19

It had been six days.

Despite her growing irritation, she had to admit she was impressed.

She hadn't expected Kyp's resolve to be able to hold out even remotely this long.

After their "psychic tryst" that first day, Jaina had backed off, forgoing aggressive pursuing for a much more effective form of manipulation.

Waiting.

Patience was not a virtue that neither she nor Kyp had been blessed with, and so she knew that all she had to do was give him some space for a while, let him stew things over, and he would drive himself to the brink all on his own, without any assistance from her.

And having her keep her distance would only further confuse him.

The morning that they woke up on the soft, spongy floor of the Yuuzhan Vong frigate, Kyp had made himself a vow that it would not happen again.

Jaina had been all too aware of that vow, of course, she'd sensed it as clearly as she had the frustration and desperation swirling around inside of him upon realizing what he'd done. So, naturally, she had resolved herself to see how long it took for her to persuade him otherwise.

So far, everything was going according to plan, even if it was taking a little longer than she'd anticipated.

Even keeping her distance, and with Kyp actively avoiding her to the point where it was threatening his sanity, Jaina could sense the downward spiral taking place within the young Jedi Master. The constant effort of resisting her, even when she wasn't there to tempt him, was taking its toll, and his presence in the Force was heavy with exhaustion and more than a little ragged, his composure fraying around the edges. 

_You can run, but you can't hide, Master,_ Jaina chuckled to herself. _So why are you trying?_

Not even Kyp could argue that he wasn't doing precisely that, hiding, because he'd gone to extremes to avoid her over the past few days, reaching out with the Force to make sure she wasn't in the general vicinity before he went anywhere in the city during the day.

It was a bit of paranoia, really, but even that had distinct benefits in pushing him closer to the edge.

He wasn't even sleeping in the city these days, much less the refugee camp.

Instead, he was camping out in the public forest, up on the mountainside where they had sent Anakin's body into the fire, letting the Force reclaim what had been left behind after Myrkr.

Jaina tried not to think about that, because when she did, she was very displeased with Kyp Durron.

He had purposely chosen to camp at the site of Anakin's funeral, knowing that she would never even think about coming after him there, knowing that the mere thought of that place was enough to pierce all of her formidable shields and send her heart shattering into a thousand jagged little pieces.

He had chosen that place, whether he consciously knew it or not, for one reason and one reason only.

To hurt her.

Kyp knew how deeply Myrkr had scarred her, how that mission and the losses she had suffered there continued to haunt her, and he had made a calculated and guileful choice based on that knowledge. When she reached out to find him with the Force that first night, Jaina had reeled back in horror upon locating him, laying across the very stone that had served as Anakin's bier of all places.

Her dreams had been horrific that night, and she'd awoken violently, kicking and screaming, her sheets twisted around her legs in a viscous grip, sweating and panting for air as the gruesome images of her brother's death faded from before her eyes, but not from her mind.

Maybe Kyp hadn't realized the extent his choice would chill her to, maybe he'd realized it and hadn't cared, but either way, he'd chosen to sleep in the place where the worst moments of her life had become real and irrevocable.

She would have been furious about that, had it not meant that he was beginning to lose touch with his own sense of what was acceptable behavior. Vindictiveness was not becoming of a Jedi Master, but then again, neither were anger or aggression, both of which Kyp had once known intimately, and was coming to know quite well again these days.

And given the ardent nature of his dreams lately, which she hadn't even needed to bother messing with, it was only a matter of time until he came completely unraveled.

He was already halfway there.

The past few days had not been easy on him, that much was clear. There was stubble on his face, his eyes were bleary and sporting dark circles under them, and he was a bit pale, considering his usual healthy coloring. It was obvious that the dreams were keeping him from getting a good night's sleep, and that he was suffering for that.

_Poor Kyp,_ she thought with a smile that contradicted those words. _I almost hate to see you like this._

Almost.

After all, he was the one making this more difficult than it had to be.

On the third day of Kyp's self-imposed exile from her bed, Jaina had ventured down to the hangar where Vanguard Squadron kept their fighters around the time that Kyp's squadron was due back in from practice maneuvers.

Her pretense for being there had been that she needed to talk to one of the flight technicians about equipping the Trickster with a subspace comm-unit, which had been true enough, considering that Lowie had requested she try and use her standing to appropriate one. It seemed that his success in assimilating a standard comm-unit into the living ship had only flamed his curiosity, so now he wanted to try and outfit the frigate with even more technology.

Jaina was more than happy to let him tinker to his heart's content, so long as he didn't damage her ship. After all, there was no telling when his modifications might come in handy down the road.

Still, the head flight technician had already done his rounds in the Vanguard's hangar, so she'd been forced to use the Force to tweak his memory just enough that he couldn't quite recall if he'd gotten everything taken care of in there or not, and went back just to double-check. 

All so that she could ensure that Kyp caught a single, momentary glance of her, and felt her presence in the room.

It was like dangling a canteen of fresh, cold water in front of a man who had been wandering lost in the wastelands of the Tatooine desert for weeks.

As soon as he'd felt her presence, Kyp had become a tormented, tangled mess of conflicting emotion, simultaneously dreading having to face her and suffering a traitorous surge of eagerness to do just that. She'd distinctly sensed a sort of delirious delight at the prospect of seeing her again, when her absence in his life over the course of three short days had clearly been nothing short of agony, and a resigned relief that struck her as amusing.

Some part of him must have been worried that she was rejecting him somehow.

There was no need for him to worry about that, though, Jaina had no intention of letting him slip away from her now, and what Jaina wanted, Jaina was going to get.

His gaze had focused on her with the intensity of a starving man, and she'd had to resist the urge to smirk, instead turning her head to give him a bright smile that caused his stomach to knot up. It was a light sweet revenge for the way his smiles had unnerved her before Sernpidal, and seeing him react in a similar fashion kept that smile on her lips even when she turned back to finish her conversation with the head flight technician.

But she'd continued to feel his eyes on her, full of want and desire, mingling with a tenderness that she might possibly be persuaded to find endearing, giving the right motivation.

And she'd felt the jealousy, the surge of fierce possessiveness that had risen up within him at something one of his pilots said in reference to her, and those were emotions she could definitely work with. Normally, she wouldn't care for anyone thinking they had any kind of right to her, but it didn't bother her nearly as much with Kyp, and to be honest, nurturing that possessive streak would only make it easier to bring out the shadow inside of him in the long run.

Then she had turned and left the hangar, purposefully not so much as sparing a glance in Kyp's direction as she left.

Even as she continued down the hall and back towards her own docking bay, Jaina had sensed the tormented longing coming from the roguish Jedi Master, his desperate urge to follow. 

Unfortunately, he hadn't.

Kyp had managed to restrain himself, just barely, and hurriedly shifted his focus onto something else to keep his will from failing him, heading for the pilot's training facility to use one of the private training rooms in the back of the building to do some lightsaber and remote conditioning. 

"No matter," Jaina murmured with a small smirk. "He'll come to me soon enough."

And then he would follow wherever she wanted.

Sighing contentedly, Jaina closed her eyes and sunk lower into the scented bubbles cascading over her, and rested her head back against the soft pillow that was affixed to the back of the sunken heated tub in her refresher unit, letting herself relax.

It had been a long day.

She'd woken up early so that she and Lowbacca could get a head-start on their projects aboard the Trickster, and after several long hours of work, their efforts had paid off.

The subspace comm-unit was now installed and working perfectly.

And they had finally figured out what the creepy looking mess of throbbing veins and gnarled wings that Lowie found in a hidden coral compartment was for.

It was, apparently, a communications organism called a tarkana, not so unlike a villip, only a much more efficient and effective device in Jaina's opinion. They functioned with a type of biological sonar, sending electric impulses from one tarkana's nervous system to another, and then the images were displayed on the opaque flaps of skin that stretched across the creature's jagged wings.

The tarkana allowed the viewer to see more than just the facial image of the being they were speaking to, but the scene around that being as well. It was designed for field work, so that a Yuuzhan Vong warrior could send detailed reports of the situation around them to their superiors by directing the tarkana at whatever they wanted to show. 

It served much the same purpose as a holocam, and once they'd realized that, it hadn't been too hard to figure out how to work the tarkana.

Jaina was certain that she'd find a good use for the Yuuzhan Vong device sooner or later, so she made a point of returning it to its rightful place in the hidden compartment in the base of the command station, until the opportune moment to use it arose.

All in all, they'd had a very productive day, her and Lowie, working on the _Trickster_.

Even though she could have done without some of the stress.

Just when she'd thought her day was going to be fairly peaceful, Tenel Ka had randomly decided to pay the _Trickster_ and her maintenance team a surprise visit.

Despite the dissension between them as of late, Jaina wouldn't have minded the Hapan princess' company, had she not sensed that the other woman had ulterior motives for coming to visit, mainly so she could 'check up' on Jaina and her activities.

The suspicion and distrust in the air between the two women had not gone unnoticed by Lowbacca, but the loyal Wookiee had been tactful enough to ignore it,

For the most part, Jaina had gone out of her way to sickeningly polite and civil to Tenel Ka, mainly to get the Hapan princess out of the way as quickly as possible, but her hackles had still managed to be raised once or twice, and she'd returned the favor without hesitation.

_It's hard to believe there was once a time when the two of us got along at all,_ Jaina thought with a bitter sigh.

What right did Tenel Ka have to act like she knew what was best for Jaina? Like she understood the pain that Jaina was suffering? So she'd loved Jacen and never told him, big deal, love was overrated anyway and in the end it only meant that there were more people whose deaths would cut the legs out from under you.

And what made Tenel Ka think she knew more about the Force anyway?

"I'm the granddaughter of Darth Vader," Jaina muttered darkly. "The Force is my birthright. I know what I'm doing, and I don't need some spoiled, stoic little princess who doesn't even know the meaning of the word emotion telling me what I should or shouldn't be doing." 

The Yuuzhan Vong had murdered her brothers, and she was going to murder every last one of them that she could get her hands on in return.

Vengeance wasn't something that made you weak, it was a raging fire that couldn't be contained.

And with it she would burn the Yuuzhan Vong alive.

She didn't care who tried to stop her, she wasn't going to let anyone stand in her way now. 

Both Jacen and Anakin, the other parts of her soul, were dead, just two out of so many Jedi who had been murdered ruthlessly by the invaders, some of whom had even been betrayed by the very people they were giving their lives to protect.

Millions of beings slaughtered and sacrificed, tortured to death all to appease the bloodlust of imaginary gods.

Yavin Four had been taken by force, Coruscant was being mutilated, Ithor had been destroyed.

No, there was nothing wrong with a little vengeance, nothing at all. 

_Now if I could just get Kyp to admit that,_ Jaina thought with frustration.

Sighing, she was about to sink all the way under the water, to submerge her head beneath the surface, when the hair on the back of her neck bristled, a silent and unspoken warning tingling through her from the Force.

She reached out with her senses, and then smiled wickedly.

Rising to her feet, Jaina stepped out of the sunken tub and onto the absorbent mat on the floor of the refresher unit, using the Force to call the silk robe hanging on the wall into her hands. She slipped it on and tied the sash around her waist before glancing over at the reflector appraisingly.

On inspiration, she reached up to remove the clip from her hair, letting it fall freely over her shoulders. 

_Perfect,_ she decided, nodding at her reflection in satisfaction.

Then she turned and made her way across the refresher unit to the door, pressing her hand against the touchpad to open it. It slid back to reveal her palace bedroom, which was decorated much more extravagantly than Jaina could have ever needed it to be, but she wasn't going to turn it down.

Her bedroom was dark, with all of the lights off, including the dim pastel light that should have come to life the moment her feet touched the bedroom floor. That was a standard feature, a luxury one at that, as Ta'a Chume had felt the need to point out upon showing her to her room the night of her arrival, in the palace bedrooms, so that one could maneuver through the room at night without tripping over any of the ornate furniture scattered about the suite.

Being a Jedi, Jaina had little need for such a thing, but she'd grown accustomed to having it turn on whenever she entered the room, and now that it had apparently been disconnected, she was acutely aware of its absence. 

It didn't matter, though, she didn't a light for this anyway. 

Sitting on the edge of her bed, his head in his hands and trembling, was a very distraught Kyp Durron.

Jaina remained in the doorway of the refresher unit for a moment, savoring her moment of triumph, and then she took a step forward, letting the door slide closed behind her.

A heartbeat or two after that, Kyp lifted his head.

He looked back at her with hollow, bloodshot eyes, as disheveled as she had ever seen him, and despite herself, she felt a twinge of pity for the Jedi Master, who truly looked like hell at the moment.

_You brought it on yourself, Master,_ Jaina thought. _It would have been so much easier if you'd given in from the start._

But he was here now, and that was all that mattered.

Wordlessly, she moved towards him, never breaking their locked gazes.

Kyp swallowed when she reached the foot of the bed, but didn't speak, and neither did Jaina. 

Instead, she merely untied the sash of her robe, and let it fall back off of her shoulders, fluttering to the ground at her feet. 

After just a moment of dull hesitation, Kyp's gaze lowered, tracing every exposed curve, starving hunger flickering in his dark, stormy emerald eyes. He was still trembling, as if he was chilled to the very bone and aching to warm himself by some fire that was just out of his reach.

Without saying a word, Jaina leaned forward and kissed him.

It started out tender, light and comforting, just a taste of what it was he had been denying himself over the course of the past six days, of what was being promised for the days ahead.

And then Kyp gave a soft, resigned sigh against her lips, a sigh of submission, and Jaina smiled faintly.

"Don't worry, lover," she murmured gently, slowly lowering the both of them down onto the bed without breaking their contact, intent on kissing away all of the remaining flickers of doubt within him. "The worst is over now."

He didn't seem to quite believe her, but that didn't matter to her.

A few moments later, when he returned the kiss hungrily, with an intensity that was fueled by desperation, it seemed it didn't matter to him anymore, either.


	20. Chapter 20

The capitol city of Hapes was bathed in silver light from the twin moons overhead.

It was late, or early depending on your point of view, and most of the planet's inhabitants were fast asleep, blissfully unaware of the world around them or any of the changes taking place.

Within the palace walls, though, in a room that was highly overdecorated, as if whoever had done the interior designing had simply wanted to jam as many luxurious, frivolous accessories into the suite as possible in order to impress upon all those who entered the wealth and prestige of the Hapan royal family, not everyone was sleeping peacefully.

In the dark of the room, laying on his side and propped up on one elbow, the thin Hapan silk sheets draped loosely over his waist, Kyp Durron watched the woman beside him as she slept.

Moonlight streamed in through the transparisteel doors to the balcony attached to the bedroom, casting shadows across the room as the silver light of the twin moons danced over Jaina's face, and Kyp felt a lump rise up in his throat at the sight of her.

Unable to help himself, he reached out and traced her delicate features with his thumb, caressing her cheek tenderly.

She was so beautiful that she was breathtaking. 

But that wasn't exactly a new development, nor a new observation.

Kyp had watched Jaina grow up from the remarkable, and somewhat creepy considering how finely in tune she and her brothers had been with the Force, toddler he'd first met all those years ago, into a pretty young girl with a good head on her shoulders and enough skill in a cockpit to put even the best of pilots to shame.

Somewhere along the way, though, that pretty girl became a woman, stunning and graceful, and it had taken him by complete surprise the first time he looked at her and really _saw_ her like that.

He remembered wondering when that had happened, when she had grown up, and where he'd been during the aging process to have so totally missed the changes in his friend's only daughter, but to this day he didn't have any sort of answer to those questions. In truth, it had probably been happening slowly, a little bit at a time, for a while and he had just never noticed until the day that it was staring him in the face.

And now here they were, all those years later.

For the second time, he had awoken with her in his arms, but this time he could not blame it on the heat of the moment or irrational lust.

The moment he'd stepped through her door, he'd known what would happen, and he had resigned himself to admitting that he had wanted it to happen. He'd been aching for it, for her, ever since the last time they'd been together like this, and he'd actively sought her out tonight with one purpose in mind.

Submission.

Laying in her bed, with her slender body pressed against his, her skin warm and smooth, Kyp felt the enormity of his actions, the gravity of what he had done, but he couldn't bring himself to want to take it back.

Instead, he just wanted to lie there with her, listening to the steady rhythm of her shallow breathing.

He no longer cared about trying to stay away, it was just a meaningless concept anyway. If he was going to help Jaina find her way back to the light, he had to be at his best, at his strongest, and that meant he couldn't torture himself by giving up the things he needed.

And he needed Jaina.

Trying to deny himself that wasn't doing him any good, if anything, it was only making things worse. What good was he to anyone, to Jaina or to himself, if he was a complete mess all of the time?

_I need this,_ he thought, brushing a strand of hair away from Jaina's face gently. _More than I've ever needed anything._

What Seth and the rest of his squadron had assumed a few days ago in the hangar wasn't as incorrect as he'd wanted to think it was, after all. 

This woman was his.

She was in his system now, in his blood and in his very soul, and he'd laid claim to her in return. 

_Mine._

He'd gasped those words during the throes of passion, and she'd just smiled, but she hadn't denied the claim. She couldn't, he knew, because it was as true as anything in the galaxy could ever be. Jaina was his, and he was hers, that was just the way it was, the way it was meant to be.

And Kyp was finally ready to accept that.

It hadn't been his intention to wind up here with her like this when he left the hangar for the refugee camp, too tired to make the trip back up the mountainside after the long, exhausting day he'd had. He hadn't possessed enough energy to get there, so he'd decided it wouldn't hurt to spend just the one night in his refugee tent, sleeping on a real cot instead of a sleeping mat for a change.

But he'd never made it to the refugee camp.

His feet had led him here, to her door, and he hadn't even realized it until he was standing there in the palace corridor, his hand raised to wave it over the keypad and bypass the security code with the Force.

Kyp had hesitated then, knowing that if he opened that door there would be no turning back.

And he'd gone inside anyway.

The bedroom had been empty, but he'd sensed her presence in the refresher unit, distracted enough by her own thoughts that he could have made a getaway.

It hadn't been too late, Jaina hadn't detected him in the suite yet, there was still time for him to turn around and leave before everything irrevocably changed. To master control over the fragile, starving emotions threatening to cause him to fall apart if he didn't feel her touch and taste her lips, and flee without giving in, without breaking the way she was waiting for him to.

Instead, he sat down on her bed, where the sheets smelled faintly of her, and trembled.

Feeling her so close, and yet not having her, was agony.

The moment she sensed his presence, he felt it, and knew his final chance to escape would end the moment she opened the refresher unit door.

And still he hadn't moved.

Her words, whispered in his ear as she laid him down upon the bed, hands gliding over his shoulders and lips caressing his own, echoed in his mind as he laid there watching her sleep.

_The worst is over now._

How Kyp wished that were true.

But everything inside of him was telling him that the worst had not yet come to pass. The trial was not over, and might not be over for a long, long time, if ever.

Careful not to disturb Jaina, Kyp gently eased himself out of bed, and gathered his pants off of the floor, slipping them on before moving silently across the cool tiled floor barefoot towards the transparisteel doors leading out to the small balcony attached to the bedroom.

He used the Force to open them, just to make sure they didn't make any noise and wake up Jaina, then slipped outside into the temperate Hapan night air, leaving the doors open behind him.

The sky overhead was dark and soothing, with a thousand distant stars strewn about the night canvas, and the twin moons glistening with an almost ethereal light on their perches high above Hapes, keeping silent watch over the sleeping city.

_It's so peaceful,_ Kyp observed wistfully, making his way to the edge of the balcony and placing his hands on the railing to look down at the tranquil city below.

He had only been to Hapes once before, when Master Skywalker asked him and Dorsk 82 to bring a message to the Queen Mother Teneniel Djo on his behalf, since they were the Jedi team closest to the Hapes Consortium at the time. It had been a brief visit, and Kyp had seen little more than the spaceport and the Hapan court, but even then he'd been slightly in awe of the tropical mountain range the capitol was built in the midst of.

There was certain irony that a monarchy so twisted and misguided, the present Queen Mother aside, had such a place of beauty as the center of their domain.

But then again, beauty and darkness often went hand-in-hand.

If he needed proof of that, he didn't have to look any further than to Jaina.

_How can someone so beautiful have so much darkness inside of her?_ he wondered, but the Force didn't see fit to give him any cosmic answer.

With a sigh, Kyp leaned on the railing, gazing out at nothing in particular.

Maybe it was just in her blood, maybe she was just her grandfather's granddaughter and that was all there was to it. The loss of her brothers had shattered something inside of Jaina, something that Kyp ached to heal for her, but didn't have the slightest idea how to go about it.

And part of him wasn't even sure it could be healed.

He wanted to believe it could be, though, that he could figure out a way to save her without losing himself in the process.

Because leaving her wasn't an option anymore, maybe it never had been.

It had only been six days since the last time he awoke to find her in his arms, but it had seemed like much, much longer. He'd been trying to resist her even longer than that, from the very first kiss aboard the Trickster while they were working on fixing an injured panel of the living ship.

And despite all his efforts to stay away, he'd failed miserably.

He seemed to be incapable of resisting her, of turning aside her advances, and some part of him found that ironic, that a tiny slip of a woman could bring the great and powerful Kyp Durron to his knees.

But maybe there hadn't been a need to resist her in the first place.

Maybe it had just been his own defense mechanisms kicking in, trying to avoid being hurt, trying to keep himself from opening up to her that way and making himself vulnerable.

His old wounds ran deep, after all.

And he'd had no doubt, right from the start, that Jaina could cause all of his defenses to come crumbling down if he let her. There was a connection between them, something deep and profound that couldn't be denied, and he'd been frightened by that.

So frightened, perhaps, that it had caused him to push her away, under the pretense that it was to protect them both from what was going on under the surface.

The feeling that he had to protect himself from her, or suffer complete destruction at her hand, was ridiculous. 

If he wanted to save her from the dark side, he'd stand a better chance of doing it up close, where he could not only keep a watchful eye on her around the clock, but also try to get through to her a little step at a time, through tenderness and compassion, through trust and closeness.

What had ever possessed him to think that staying away was the smart thing to do?

If anything, it had cost him precious time that he could never get back, time with Jaina and time that could have been spent trying to ease her away from the darkness.

_I'm so tired,_ Kyp thought with a bitter chuckle.

Tired of fighting, tired of hurting, tired of being lonely...

Back inside the bedroom, he felt Jaina stir awake, sensed her groggy confusion as she found that she was alone in bed, and then her calm, but slightly irritated, realization that he had just stepped out onto the balcony for a few moments in order to get some fresh air.

After a handful of seconds, she appeared behind him in the open doorway.

He didn't need to turn around to see her, he could picture her there perfectly in his mind, silk robe wrapped around her slender body and her tousled dark hair cascading over her shoulders in the moonlight. A few heartbeats passed, and then she finally spoke.

"What are you thinking about?"

"You," Kyp answered quietly. "Me. A lot of things."

"You've got a lot on your mind, then," Jaina observed, coming to join him at the railing of the balcony and gazing out at the sleeping city beyond the palace.

That was the understatement of the year, perhaps even the decade.

"I didn't mean to wake you," Kyp told her apologetically.

"You didn't."

Kyp heard something unspoken behind that answer and looked over at her, raising an eyebrow. "Still not sleeping well?" he inquired with concern.

"No," came her short reply. 

"Nightmares?"

"Ever since Myrkr," she responded flatly, then glanced at him with a faint smile. "They go away when you're here, though."

"Is that why you want me around?" Kyp asked, but his smirk didn't quite measure up to its usual standards. "To make the nightmares go away?" 

"One of many reasons."

"Many?" he echoed, intrigued.

"Dozens," Jaina confirmed, her lips quirking in amusement. "Hundreds, even. Would you like an example?"

"Why not?" Kyp shrugged.

"I like the way you make me feel safe," she pronounced.

Whatever he'd been expecting her to say, it certainly wasn't that.

"I haven't felt safe in a long time, not since Chewbacca died," Jaina continued grimly, and there was a stirring of something cold and daunting behind her eyes. "Not since I realized that the Yuuzhan Vong aren't like any other enemy we've ever faced. They don't exist in the Force... they're an abomination."

Her lip curled up and she spat the word like it was acid on her tongue, but Kyp found that a part of him agreed with the sentiment entirely too much.

"And yet you fly upon one of their living ships," he observed pointedly.

"The ship is different." 

"Is it?" Kyp asked challengingly.

"I don't see the ship running around slaughtering Jedi and sacrificing millions of sentient beings," Jaina snapped, fierce anger shining in her dark eyes. "Do you?"

Not really having an answer for that, at least not one he wanted to admit, Kyp merely leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, promptly startling her into silence and expelling the truculence from her expression almost immediately. He would have chuckled, in any other situation, at seeing her caught offguard for once.

But in attempting to derail her anger, all he'd done was give her a better outlet for her frustrations.

She rose onto her toes, and kissed him.

It was a short, almost tender kiss, but it was more than enough to have the desired affect.

Kyp looked down at her and she smiled, her fingers skimming over his collarbone lightly. Searing flames were left in their wake, and he felt his blood roar to life under her gentle and intoxicating touch.

Then Jaina's hands fell away from his bare skin, the warmth in his chest dimming but not fading all together, and, with a seductive smile, she turned and slipped back into the lavish palace bedroom through the open balcony doorway, without saying a word.

At least not aloud.

Sighing wearily, Kyp glanced out at the sleeping city and the stars overhead one last time, then followed dutifully.

When he stepped through the doorway, Jaina was seated on the edge of the bed, watching him, and he paused for a moment to take in the lovely and provocative sight in front of him, before sliding the transparisteel doors closed behind him and crossing the room towards her.

Her lips curved up into a smile as he leaned over her, and when he bent to kiss her, she lifted her hands to entangle them in his hair, deepening the kiss as she pulled him down on top of her, the soft Hapan bed dipping slightly under the combined weight.

Reaching a hand between them, Kyp found the sash of her robe and tugged on it, spilling the silk material open beneath him, her smooth, soft skin hot against his bare chest.

And then Jaina's palm slid lower down his stomach, and he forgot everything else.


	21. Chapter 21

Today was just not her day.

Eyeing the bleeding gash across the palm of her hand, Jaina Solo rolled her eyes in exasperation, beyond irritated with herself now for her carelessness.

All morning, she had been making stupid, unforgivable little mistakes while working on the _Trickster_. Nothing major, nothing that couldn't be easily fixed or repaired, but her inability to stay focused was becoming infuriating, and she was seriously considering calling it quits for the day and trudging back to her room at the palace to spend the rest of the day soaking in the heating tub in her refresher unit.

Then again, she doubted that she'd be able to relax in her room, either, now.

After last night, Kyp was everywhere there, too.

At that, a small smirk crossed her lips.

It had taken six days, but the Jedi Master had finally given in and come crawling back to her, of his own free will, defeated and ready to submit.

She had rewarded him accordingly.

Until the night of the celebration, they had been partners, of sorts, both determined to defeat the Yuuzhan Vong by any means necessary, although Kyp had clearly begun to grow concerned over her recent methods. When she had accepted his offer of apprenticeship, they had begun a tentative bond with Kyp serving as her Master, and she had learned a lot from him in that short amount of time, despite his misgivings.

But upon her initial arrival at Hapes, Jaina had been full of bitter loathing for the older Jedi, his betrayal of her at Sernpidal still fresh, but somehow over the past few weeks that had faded without her even really noticing it. Maybe some part of her just took comfort in the Jedi Master's presence, in someone who understood her pain but didn't want to force her to deal with it like everyone else seemed to be trying to do. Maybe her subconscious had recognized that Kyp was one of the few allies she had left these days.

Or maybe the truth was that she just didn't care anymore.

She had found recently that it was hard to care about much of anything after Myrkr.

In the blink of an eye, her entire world had come crumbling down around her. Anakin dead, dying from an amphistaff wound he took in her defense; Jacen dead, choosing to send the others off to escape while he stayed behind to destroy the voxyn queen and fulfill Anakin's last mission.

Were they together now somewhere?

Somewhere beyond her perceptions, beyond what she knew of reality? She liked to think so, liked to imagine the two of them continuing their endless bickering about the Force while Lusa and Raynar and the others looked on in exasperation. Chewbacca would be there, too, threatening to wallop them both over the head if they didn't be quiet, and maybe their grandfather and Obi-Wan Kenobi would be there, and their elusive grandmother who no one knew anything about...

Sighing, Jaina shook her head, and decided such flights of fancy were for a later time. She already had enough on her mind as it was, there was no need to add to it.

_I wish you were here, Jasa, Ani,_ she thought wistfully, grabbing a bacta strip out of the small med-kit that Lowbacca had stashed under one of the coral shelves and applying it to her cut hand. _I could use your advice right about now._

More Anakin's than Jacen's, most likely, of course. Despite the fact that they were twins and that Jacen knew her better than anyone in the galaxy, it had been Anakin who usually understood her best, because they were so much alike. It was more than just their mechanical abilities, their knack for flying, or even their reckless stubborn-streak, it went much deeper than that. Jacen was her other half, they were connected to each other in every conceivable way, but Anakin mirrored her soul.

With them both gone, she was lost, floundering desperately even as something continued to pull her down, down into the cold, black waters from which there was no escape. 

And the only companion she had to lean on was Kyp Durron. 

It was ironic, really, that the one person who wasn't afraid to follow her into those treacherous waters, who was willing to risk everything for her, was the same man that she had once slapped across the face.

_Maybe Kyp's just into that,_ she thought with a weary chuckle.

Regardless, one thing that Kyp was clearly 'into' was her, and Jaina was pleased to note that it served her objectives better than she could have ever hoped.

The Yuuzhan Vong were a mighty enemy, and if she was going to destroy them, she would need help.

What better ally to have than the Destroyer of Worlds himself?

If he could be persuaded to let go of his Jedi inhibitions, to accept that there was no other way to defeat the Yuuzhan Vong, then together they could bring the Yuuzhan Vong empire to its knees.

Kyp Durron was powerful, and she liked that. 

But was his power the only reason she had for keeping him around?

Once, she would have said yes without hesitation, but now she wasn't as certain. The six days that he had resisted her, avoiding her presence both in the real world and in the Force, had been excruciating for Kyp, but they hadn't exactly been pleasant for Jaina, either.

Despite herself, she had missed him.

Even during the few days he avoided her after the first kiss they'd shared while doing repairs on the Trickster, he had still been around. On the days that she hadn't passed him in the halls of the hangar facilities, she'd at least felt him close by in the Force, his brilliant and smoldering presence more worried about working on the kinks in his squadron before the next battle than what was going on between the two of them.

When he shut her out following that first night together, it had unsettled her more than was willing to admit.

The sensation of finding him again last night, over and over, had been something like flying, only without an X-wing around them, the Force between them pushing them higher and higher still.

Suddenly, and quite inexplicably, Jaina found that she wanted this man with her, at her side, in all she did.

Be it fighting battles or simply resting after a long day of war, she wanted him to be there bside her. It was irrational and illogical, filled with entirely too much sentiment to be allowed, but she rationalized that there was nothing wrong with wanting the Destroyer of Worlds along for the ride on her campaign against the Yuuzhan Vong.

And so what if she found him to be ridiculously attractive, so much so that she probably would have gone to bed with him just for the kriff of it?

Or that she'd even had a fleeting crush on him during her youth, which had ended a long time ago?

Maybe it hadn't ended at all, though, only changed into something different.

Something more mature.

That gave Jaina pause, and she frowned, stuffing the med-kit back into its place before dropping down at the coral table where her tools were sitting. What were her feelings for Kyp Durron anyway?

She wasn't sure anymore.

He could be infuriating at times, but then, she supposed, so could she. It was never much of a chore to spend time with him, during the week that he had spent helping her with the Trickster, she had found herself looking forward to his arrival at the docking bay each morning and, she realized with a cringe, she had taken to checking her appearance on a more regular basis.

It wasn't hard to admit that she had, in recent weeks, come to care about him a great deal.

More than she should, perhaps.

_I don't need this right now, _Jaina growled to herself. _I don't need that kind of distraction._

What she needed was a partner to fight the Vong with, someone she could trust and rely on, and nothing more. If the best way to keep Kyp happy and going along with her plans was to sleep with him, well, she was willing to make that sacrifice, because it was an easy one to make.

But that was all it was allowed to be.

Anything more would only be a diversion, a weakness, that she couldn't afford. 

A part of her, though, a part that was both selfish and desperate not to be alone, didn't want to keep him at a distance. 

Why go back to being alone, to wandering the cold galaxy on her own, when he could walk it with her? There was no doubt in her mind that, despite his present concerns about her methods, Kyp would follow her anywhere if she asked him to.

Maybe even if she didn't.

He was her greatest weapon against the Yuuzhan Vong aside from her own thirst for vengeance, but a small part of her, one she continued to stifle and ignore, wondered if that was really all that he was to her.

"I don't have time for this," Jaina muttered under her breath. "I have better things to be doing than thinking about Kyp Durron."

"That is a fact."

Startled, Jaina was on her feet and nearly had her lightsaber in hand and ignited before she recognized the voice of her surprise visitor as that of Tenel Ka.

That realization did little to ease the tension in her shoulders.

"Did you knock?" she demanded of the Hapan princess, grateful that Lowie wasn't around this time, because it meant she didn't have to be polite today. "Because I didn't hear anything."

"That does not surprise me," Tenel Ka replied evenly, dismissing her anger as she entered the alcove from the coral doorway. "You were very deep in thought, and did not even notice my presence here until I spoke."

"I was distracted," Jaina snapped.

"So I see," Tenel Ka said. "You are having problems with Master Durron?"

"Not any that I'm in the mood to share," Jaina answered curtly, although she had a moment of vindictive pleasure imagining her friend's reaction if she were to reveal that the kind of problems she was having with Kyp were of a much more intimate design than the other woman suspected. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see how things are going with your ship," Tenel Ka explained, but Jaina didn't buy into it for a moment, not even as the Hapan princess let her gaze wander around the room, haunting memories of their escape from Myrkr flickering in her steely gray eyes.

"You did that yesterday, remember?" she sneered.

"And you have made more progress since then, have you not?" Tenel Ka retorted innocently.

Folding her arms over her chest, Jaina glared until the other woman finally sighed.

"I have been worried for you, my friend, ever since Myrkr," she admitted levelly. "And those worries have only grown in recent days." 

"You don't need to worry about me," Jaina assured her coolly. "I'm doing just fine. If you want to worry for someone, worry about the Yuuzhan Vong- they're the ones who're going to need it when I get through with them."

This only seemed to deepen the furrow of Tenel Ka's brow.

"Be mindful of the path you take, Jaina," the Hapan princess advised. "It will lead you to ruin."

"Oh, please," Jaina scoffed angrily, rolling her eyes. "Let's not do this again, Tenel Ka. I've had enough dark side dithering to last me a lifetime, so spare me any more of it, all right? I know what I'm doing, I don't need you or anyone else to tell me the dangers lurking in the shadows."

"And just what is it that you are doing?" Tenel Ka inquired calmly, arching one eyebrow in a regal manner that was eerily reminiscent of Jaina's mother, and not in a good way.

"I'm winning a war," Jaina retorted sharply. "How about you?"

"I am focusing on how best to serve my people," Tenel Ka responded, not rising to the bait. "And on how best to serve the Force and the Jedi, as you should be."

"The Jedi are losing this war, Tenel Ka," Jaina pointed out coldly. "If we want to win, we can't fight like defenders of peace and justice anymore. That might work against the Empire, but not the Yuuzhan Vong. They're an entirely different kind of enemy."

"And so in order to defeat them, you feel you must become an entirely different kind of Jedi?" Tenel Ka concluded grimly. "I fear that you cannot do so, my friend, without becoming the very enemy we wish to overcome."

"Not this again," Jaina muttered, flashing the other woman a rather nasty smile. "I already told you, I haven't felt any urges to start tattooing my face." 

Clearly, Tenel Ka's sense of humor had improved little since their days at the Academy.

"Your grandfather was once Darth Vader, fact," the warrior woman said evenly. "I must wonder, Jaina, if that is not what you seek to emulate in your fight against the Yuuzhan Vong? You say that the Jedi cannot win this war as we are, but that begs the question of whether you think that by becoming your grandfather you can do so?"

"That's hardly the point, now is it?" Jaina replied coolly. "I won't rest until the Yuuzhan Vong are destroyed. If that makes me as bad as Vader, then so be it. They've killed billions of this galaxy's beings, annihilated whole worlds and mutilated countless others." 

Her old friend opened her mouth to object, but Jaina held up a hand sharply, drawing on the Force and demanding to be heard. 

"They want to destroy our very way of life, Tenel Ka," she continued darkly, the familiar cold seeping into every fiber of her being from her very core. "And they're getting pretty close to doing just that. How many Jedi have been hunted down and killed in the past year alone? How many have been tortured to death or fed to the voxyn?"

"Vengeance is not the answer, my friend," Tenel Ka insisted solemnly, but through the Force Jaina felt her friend's own twist of grief at all the evil the Yuuzhan Vong had wrought.

"They murdered my brothers," Jaina cried venomously, lashing out with the Force to push her friend back into the coral wall of the living ship hard. "Anakin is dead! Jacen is dead! And I will not rest until every last Yuuzhan Vong goes to join them!"

Tenel Ka visibly flinched at Jacen's name, more so than at being shoved back with the Force, and the stone walls she had constructed around herself to keep her emotions under control crumbled just enough to give Jaina the vicious satisfaction of knowing that someone, at least, was able to mourn her twin brother properly.

"Don't preach to me about vengeance," she snarled. "Not when you don't have the emotional depth to comprehend what pain really is."

With that, she swept past Tenel Ka and stormed out of the ship, leaving the future Hapan queen alone in the silent living ship.

Jaina had no idea where her feet were taking her as she strode furiously through the winding corridors, she hadn't turned in the direction of the palace, but the floor beneath her seemed to tremble under the weight of her blazing anger and maddening grief, and she was so overwhelmed by it that she wasn't even aware of where she was going.

Her entire body was trembling, the cold flooding through her like a raging river, begging to be released.

And then, as if all of the negative, churning emotion inside of her had reached critical mass, she stumbled, hot tears stinging in her eyes, and let out a tortured scream of frustration in the middle of the hallway.

Angry, ravenous Force winds erupted from within her, tearing at the durasteel walls and battering them furiously, the sound of metal shrieking as it was shredded roaring in her ears. The transparisteel windows along the corridor all exploded outward into a thousand tiny shards, raining down onto the ground below.

The storm died down as quickly, and suddenly, as it had come, and Jaina stood there, trembling with so much fury and grief that she felt as if she collapse under the weight of it all.

For a long moment, she wasn't entirely aware of her surroundings.

There was a thick layer of blackness pressing down on her, choking her, and she nearly drowned under it, but she managed to struggle to the surface again, breathing hard, and she blinked, taking in the damage she had inadvertently done to the hallway.

It was like a speeder crash, horrific and disturbing, and yet she could not look away. 

_This will happen to you,_ a disembodied voice seemed to whisper into her very soul, from nowhere and yet everywhere all at once. _Destruction and devastation lie ahead. You will be beaten, broken, battered beyond all repair until there is nothing left but shattered remnants._

A chill swept over Jaina, seeping into her very bones.

But the voiceless voice was gone now, and she couldn't even be all that certain that she'd even really heard it in the first place. Her innermost self knew it, though, and yet she could not accept it, could not believe it, for the words that still reverberated in her skull were full of dread and terror, not unlike the feelings that had surged within her at Myrkr, watching her little brother fall beneath the might of dozens of warriors. 

Wide-eyed, Jaina let her gaze sweep over the crushed, demolished skeleton of the corridor, now reduced to little more than twisted and gnarled ruins, strips of durasteel shredded and bent at unnatural angles.

_This will happen to you._

For a moment, she knew a primal fear that was beyond logic, but then it was swept aside by the steely, cool shadow inside of her, giving her a detached calm that she desperately needed in order to regain some control over her whirling thoughts.

No, this was not what would happen to her, she decided after a grim moment. This was what would happen to the Yuuzhan Vong, what she would do to them if it was with her dying breath.

Anakin and Jacen were dead, along with Lusa and Raynar and so many other friends, including half of the strike team that accompanied them to Myrkr. The Jedi were being hunted, betrayed by the very people they were fighting to save, and the Yuuzhan Vong were delighting in torturing them, even if the Jedi didn't break, before they delivered the killing blow.

The galaxy was being enslaved, millions sacrificed and slaughtered, whole worlds lost forever, and the Yuuzhan Vong would not stop, would not quit, until they had conquered everything in their path.

No matter how long it took, Jaina was determined to make the Yuuzhan Vong pay, to teach them new meanings of the word pain and make them come to rue the day they ever set foot within this galaxy.

And if that meant destroying herself in the process, that was a price she was more than willing to pay.


	22. Chapter 22

Jaina was going to be the death of him.

In the week since he had stumbled into her room, seeking the comfort and solace that only she could give, they had rarely been apart for more than a few hours. During the day, he went about his duties with the Vanguards while she worked on the _Trickster_, determined to find yet another way that the living ship could teach her how to hurt the Yuuzhan Vong. 

Every night, though, without fail, they ended up back in her bedroom at the palace.

Kyp doubted that he had even set foot in his tent back in the refugee camp all week, except to grab the occasional change of clothes or to pick up messages about the Vanguard's requested patrols.

Last night, though, he had unexpectedly been called away in the middle of the night when orders came through for Vanguard Squadron to run a recon mission to the edge of the sector. Scouts had spotted evidence that the Yuuzhan Vong forces scattered about where beginning to gather together, as if preparing for a massive strike, and the Vanguards had been asked to take a closer look at the situation and see if there was anything to the growing unease among the Hapan military, as they lacked the firepower to repel a full-scale invasion.

Not wanting to wake her when she was finally sleeping peacefully, without the telltale signs of a nightmare playing across her face, Kyp had simply left Jaina a message for when she woke up.

The recon run had taken longer than he would have liked, though, and they hadn't made it back to Hapes until late afternoon, so Kyp was preparing himself for a bit of the cold shoulder from Jaina tonight. Even though things had been out of his control last night, he knew she wasn't going to be happy about it.

He wasn't all that happy about it, either.

Being away from Jaina again, even for just half a day, was excruciating. 

It would have been nice to immediately go to her as soon as his fighter touched down in the hangar, but he'd been obligated to share his findings with the Hapan officials first. What the scouts had reported was true, the Yuuzhan Vong did seem to be amassing a rather large fleet on the outskirts of the sector, and while the Hapans had surmised that they were moving in on Hapes because of the refugees, Kyp knew better.

The Yuuzhan Vong could have cared less about all of the refugees Hapes had taken in, they were coming for one thing and one thing only.

Jaina.

Her goddess ruse had proven more effective than he could have imagined, and the Yuuzhan Vong clearly wanted her badly, for more than just Tsavong Lah's promised sacrifice. By mocking their religion, Jaina had made herself the most wanted Jedi in the galaxy, and there was no telling how far the Vong would go to get her.

It had been a concern of his for a while now, especially considering how little Jaina herself seemed to care, but Kyp couldn't force her to take her own safety seriously anymore than he could force the Vong to take up pacifism.

As soon as he was dismissed by the Hapans, Kyp had gone looking for her.

The door to the docking bay slid open and he stepped through, reaching out with the Force towards the Yuuzhan Vong frigate inside even as he started towards it, his boots clacking softly on the smooth, hard durasteel floor of the Hapan hangar.

_Jaina?_ he sent a whispered inquiry towards the ship.

There was no answer.

At least not from the woman he'd come looking for.

Irritated growling came from within the living ship, and a few moments later, Lowbacca appeared in the frigate's portal door, his furry, elongated arms folded over his chest as he fixed Kyp with a less-than-pleasant look.

What do you want? the towering Wookiee Jedi demanded.

"I'm looking for Jaina," Kyp replied, dismissing the snappish tone since he sensed the Wookiee's frustration had more to do with something he was working on aboard the _Trickster_ than it did with the Jedi Master's arrival. "Do you know where she is?" 

Lowbacca shifted, face scrunching slightly as if in contemplation, and it was clear he was debating how to reply.

"It's important, Lowbacca," Kyp told him, the Wookiee's reluctance to answer sparking anxiety with him. "I need to find my apprentice."

From the way Lowbacca's fur bristled at that, he was guessing that Jaina's friends were still uneasy with her decision to apprentice herself to Kyp. The ironic thing was, Kyp was uneasy about it, too, but for entirely different reasons than the concerns her friends were harboring.

She left to find a training room with remotes, Lowbacca informed him.

"Lightsaber training?" Kyp inquired, and he felt his shoulders relax a little.

There was nothing wrong with lightsaber training, in fact it would probably do her some good to keep up with the conditioning of her skills... and it would certainly keep her out of trouble for a few hours.

Considering she was supposedly his apprentice, he should have suggested it a long time ago.

Jaina was... disgruntled, Lowbacca explained gruffly.

And the anxiety was back.

"What happened?" Kyp asked wearily.

Tenel Ka came to the docking bay.

Of course.

The day after his return to Jaina's bed, Kyp had detected a strong surge of fury from her through the Force, and when he carefully inquired about it that evening, she had brusquely informed him that Tenel Ka had come by the living ship for the second day in a row, this time to pick a fight.

Whatever had been said between the two women, it was clear that Jaina didn't want to talk about it, so Kyp hadn't pressed.

"Say no more," he sighed, rubbing his temples. "They got into it earlier this week, too. What were they were arguing about this time?" 

Myrkr, the Wookiee answered, a flicker of grief and guilt and sorrow twisting in his massive chest. And Jacen.

"I should have known," Kyp groaned, not at all surprised.

Even Tenel Ka should have known that Myrkr, especially Jacen and Anakin, was a sensitive topic with Jaina, and these days she was about as volatile as a raging rancor. Tenel Ka may have meant well, but she'd probably overstepped a line that she hadn't even be aware existed, and Jaina had gone off on her. Although he didn't know the Hapan princess all that well, Kyp was certain the steely warrior woman had a temper of her own, and if the two of them collided...

Sensing his thoughts, Lowbacca gave a growl of agreement.

"I'll try to talk to her," Kyp said, and there was no clarification as to which 'her' he meant. "She doesn't talk about it much, but maybe I can get to open up a little, take some of the edge off of her defenses. Or at least get her to make an effort to be civil with Tenel Ka."

Lowbacca nodded, not overly optimistic, but clearly of the opinion that it couldn't make things any worse.

Kyp wasn't so sure about that.

"Any idea what it was that set her off?" he asked. "Anything more specific than just Jacen?"

Again, Lowbacca hesitated, but only for a moment. When Anakin died, the Wookiee replied, thick with grief. He left Jacen in charge. Jaina did not want to leave him, and so Jacen dragged her away. After... she blamed him for abandoning Anakin to die alone.

Well, that was certainly something that was likely to cause Jaina's hackles to rise.

"And Tenel Ka brought that up?" Kyp concluded knowingly.

Yes.

No wonder Jaina had reacted the way she had, if anything, Kyp was just impressed, and utterly relieved, that she had not lashed out at the Hapan princess with anything more than words.

After Gallinore, he no longer had any doubts about what she was capable of. 

"So she should still be in one of the training rooms, right?" Kyp inquired.

Lowbacca shrugged his broad shoulders. That was three hours ago, he responded uncertainly. If she is not still in there, then she has most likely gone back to the palace to shower.

Unbidden, the thought of joining her and making it a shower for two sprang to mind.

Cursing to himself, Kyp quickly stifled that thought, and the enticing images that came with it, but not before Lowbacca caught a faint glimmering of it.

A low growl came from the Wookie's throat, and he bared his sharp fangs in warning.

"What happens between Jaina and I is private," Kyp said smoothly, with a detached calm that he did not feel with the angry Wookiee towering over him. "Master and apprentice business."

If anything, that only made the snarl on Lowbacca's lips grow even wider, and he took a threatening step forward.

Gesturing with his finger, Kyp stopped the Wookiee in his tracks, and the anger faded away almost instantly, leaving Lowbacca scratching his head, as if trying to remember what he'd been about to say.

"I know you're busy here, so I'll let you get back to your work," Kyp told him. "If Jaina comes by this evening, will you tell her I'm looking for her?"

Lowbacca nodded, growling that he would, and then disappeared back inside of the living ship.

For a moment, Kyp stared after him, then turned on his heel and left the docking bay in search of his apprentice, unsure whether or not the vague feeling of unease he felt in the pit of his stomach was because of her.

Or himself.

Since Gallinore, he'd crossed more lines than he'd realized, and all for her.

They'd broken more laws than he could count on that little trip, but the ones that bothered him the most were the moral laws of the Jedi that they had disregarded. Taking Crimpler to Sinsor Khal had been wrong, plain and simple, there was no getting around that fact, no matter how much he tried to defend his decision to help Jaina with her plans. Allowing Jaina to have the Hapan pirate tested to the brink of death over and over, all for the sake of science, had been unforgivable, and not doing something about what had happened during their chaotic plummet through the coolant tunnels was a mistake he could not undo.

Four guards nearly lost their lives that day, simply because Jaina had lost control, without even realizing it.

And now that she had figured out that she'd been the one to level them, as he was certain she had, Kyp was even more concerned about what she might do the next time. Now that she knew how easily she could dispose of those in her way, he was beginning to fear that she would do so as casually as her grandfather once had.

This wasn't his fear alone, though. 

Despite the fact that she knew nothing of what had happened under her nose on Gallinore, Tenel Ka was, perhaps, even more aware of just how far her friend had fallen than Kyp himself. While Lowbacca was clearly blinded by loyalty and love for Jaina, the Hapan princess had a steely set of mind that allowed her to be objective, her own feelings aside. It was this objectivity that caused Tenel Ka to watch Jaina as closely as she did, and a part of Kyp was grateful beyond words that someone else, at least, was trying to get through to Jaina since he didn't seem to be having much luck.

But another deeper, darker part of him found that a bitter resentment had begun to fester within him for the Hapan princess, solely because of the way she was upsetting Jaina.

Kyp knew that wasn't right, knew that it was not the way a Jedi Master should be thinking, and yet he couldn't help it.

Just like he couldn't help that every time he saw Gye during Vanguard duties, he felt an itch to permanently blind the kid so that he would never be able to look at Jaina again.

Instead of heading to the pilot's training facility, Kyp started for the palace, not even bothering to reach out and try to locate her with the Force. He had a feeling that she was back in her room by now, and that was enough to convince him to look there first.

Besides, maybe he'd get lucky and she really would still be in the shower.

So wrapped up in his thoughts about Jaina, Kyp failed to notice that he wasn't heading in his usual route to the palace until a cool tug caught his attention through the Force.

Halting where he was, he followed the tug down the side corridor to his left, taking a right turn at the next hall intersection, a strange and inexplicable sense of urgency and dread growing within him, becoming louder with each passing step.

By the time he came across the construction area, the Force had all but turned a spotlight on the moment.

A large section of corridor had been utterly demolished, durasteel walls torn down and ripped apart as if some beast with impossibly strong claws had shredded the metal to pieces. Workers dressed in gray jumpsuits were busy clearing up the debris, while others were attempting to salvage the parts of the wall frame that were still standing, as badly mangled as they were.

"What happened here?" Kyp demanded, looking to the closest worker.

The man, who was quite a few years older than Kyp himself, shrugged, wiping pain on his jumpsuit. "I just clean up the mess, kid," he grunted. "I don't make them. But we've been at this for the past week, if you think it's bad now, you should have seen what it looked like then."

A week. 

Sudden clarity befell him, and knowledge gleaned from the Force chilled him deeply.

_Jaina,_ he thought grimly. 

Without so much as a nod at the worker, Kyp turned and made his way back through the winding corridors, a heavy weight upon his shoulders and his thoughts running at full speed. Despite his better judgment, he found himself trying to justify this, to rationalize her actions, and that couldn't be a good sign.

By the time he reached the palace, he was certain that whatever had happened in that corridor, something had gone terribly wrong that day.

No, not just that day.

Something had gone terribly wrong at Myrkr, when Anakin died.

Everything since had only been a result of that.

Waving his hand over the keypad outside of her door, Kyp prepared himself for a less than pleasant conversation with his so-called apprentice, about the necessity of controlling her temper. 

And the dangers of what her anger could do.

It was a blunt, direct confrontation that was probably long overdue, but he'd been putting it off until now, dreading the discord it would sow between them.

Now, when all he wanted was to take her in his arms and ravage her, he didn't have a choice in the matter.

Jaina had been spiraling further and further out of control ever since Gallinore, and he'd been turning a blind eye to some of her activities, but this was too big of an indiscretion for him to ignore.

The door slid open and Kyp stepped inside the suite, immediately reaching out with the Force to locate Jaina.

_I just had to get my wish,_ he sighed heavily, and started towards the closed door of the refresher unit, reinforcing his resolve not to let anything distract him from what he had to do, no matter how unpleasant this was going to end up being.

"Jaina," he called through the door, knocking. "Jaina, we need to talk." 

There was no answer, but he could hear the water in the 'fresher running inside.

Kyp hesitated for a moment, then opened the door and stepped inside, keeping his gaze lowered. 

"Jaina," he cleared his throat.

"You're back," her voice filled his ears, smooth and precious, and he had to force himself to ignore how genuinely glad to see him she sounded.

"We need to talk," he told her, struggling not to look up.

"What?" Jaina asked loudly.

"I said we need to talk," Kyp repeated, although he knew perfectly well that she had heard him the first time.

The refresher door opened, pouring a cloud of damp steam out into the room, and he swallowed hard, knowing what was coming next and yet unable to move his feet to leave.

A very wet, and very naked, Jaina stepped out, water trickling down her skin and her dark hair plastered over her shoulders. "Come here," she commanded, reaching out and taking a fistful of his flightsuit.

"We need to talk," Kyp insisted firmly.

"Talk can wait," Jaina said breathlessly, flashing him a seductive smile as she tugged at his flightsuit. "Now get this off, would you? I'm dripping all over the imported Kuati carpeting."

"Jaina-" Kyp began to protest, but she apparently wasn't going to take no for an answer, because the next thing he knew she was pulling him back into the refresher with her, clothes and all. He sputtered as she shoved him directly under the spray, water coursing over him, drenching his hair and running down his face. "Are you crazy, I-" 

Again, he was cut off, but this time by Jaina's lips.

Her arms wrapped around his neck, pressing her wet body against his soaking clothes, and all resolve quickly shattered inside of Kyp as he groaned against her lips, running his hands down her back as the water rained down upon them.

Much later, when his soaked clothes had been stripped away and were pooled at the bottom of the refresher, Kyp leaned against the wall, breathing hard and holding Jaina to him.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked, smiling up at him as she ran her fingers over his collarbone.

A fleeting memory of the twisted corridor flickered, but quickly vanished again into the dark, foggy mists swirling through his mind as Jaina kissed the hollow of his throat. 

"It doesn't matter," he told her breathlessly. "All that matters is you."

"Good answer," Jaina murmured with a smirk.

And gave him his reward.


	23. Chapter 23

Avoiding the Crown Princess of Hapes when you were temporarily living in the palace was easier than expected.

Jaina Solo had been prepared to rely on all sorts of Force tricks to ensure that she did not run into her old friend for at least several days, but it seemed that Tenel Ka had come to the same conclusion she had after their last altercation.

It was best to keep their distance from one another, at least for now, until their tempers cooled down.

_"By trying to avenge their deaths, you are dishonoring Jacen and Anakin's memory!"_

For a moment, an echo of the previous day's anger returned, taunting her, but she pushed it aside, knowing it would only get in the way now. She'd had a few choice words for the warrior woman, as well, some of which she was certain she would one day regret, and some of which she would not.

But she did, despite herself, regret that things had become so strained between them as of late.

After all, Tenel Ka had been one of her dearest friends for many years.

And she had been much more than that to Jacen.

It both saddened and amused Jaina that her idiot twin brother had not been able to put the pieces together himself, but when his death had sung across the Force, to all aboard the _Trickster_ save for Jaina, it had become painfully clear to them all that Tenel Ka had loved Jacen with her whole heart. 

Knowing her twin as she did, Jaina had no doubt that love had been returned, even if it had never gotten the chance to be expressed.

_Maybe that's why we can't get along these days, _she mused emotionlessly. _We're a constant reminder of what each other has lost._

But somehow, she doubted that seeing Tahiri everyday would have quite the same effect on her.

There was something about the blond-haired, barefoot young Jedi that tugged at Jaina's heart, evoking both the aching grief for the loss of her brother, but also a sense of wistfulness that was hard to explain. Anakin should have lived, she believed that with her whole heart, and he should have married Tahiri, raising a family with her on Yavin Four or Tatooine or wherever they chose to settle down.

It should have been her who died in his place at Myrkr.

After all, he wouldn't have been injured in the first place if it hadn't been for her. If she'd only been more cautious, less reckless, if she'd been paying more attention to the battle at hand...

_Jedi do not dwell on past mistakes,_ an inner voice, which sounded remarkably like her Uncle Luke, scolded gently. _To look back is to lose sight of the path before you. You must accept the past and move forward._

Move forward.

The only problem with that, Jaina decided, was that she could do no such thing. To move forward would mean letting go of her brothers, and that was something she could never do. Jacen and Anakin were her life, her world, they owned a part of her that no other being, Jedi or otherwise, could ever even know.

Without them, what was there to move forward to? What was there for her to try and build a future, a life, around? 

_Kyp._

Snorting, Jaina glared inwardly at herself, not at all amused by how quickly, and naturally, the Jedi Master's name had surfaced in answer to that hypothetical question. 

She refused to consider why it had surfaced in the first place.

"More problems I don't need," she muttered as she rounded the corner of the immaculately glistening palace corridor, the golden carvings etched along the smooth, white stone walls around her bright under the gentle glow of the lights overhead. 

Just as she was about to turn down a side corridor that would lead her in the direction of the docking bays, a tingle went up the back of her neck, and a familiar, cool presence danced along the outer edges of her senses.

Groaning, Jaina contemplated whether or not she had time to erect a Force disguise and make herself look like a lowly guard before Ta'a Chume arrived, but she decided she probably didn't, and braced herself for the former queen's arrival.

She didn't have to wait long, within moments the doors at the end of the hall opened and the guards who accompanied Ta'a Chume wherever she went filed in, ushering the former queen into the corridor and then securing the doors closed behind them.

Giving Ta'a Chume a half-bow as the regal woman approached, Jaina couldn't help suddenly feeling on edge.

"I have been looking for you," Ta'a Chume said without preamble. "Other affairs have kept me from paying you a visit until now, but I had hoped to speak with you the night of the celebration two weeks ago, only you did not return to the palace that night." 

No, she hadn't, because she'd spent the rest of the evening, and part of the next morning, enjoying the very pleasurable company of one Jedi Master aboard the _Trickster_, away from any and all prying eyes, including those the former queen had sanctioned to keep track of her.

"I decided to make a night of it," Jaina replied smoothly. "And between working on the _Trickster_ and my Jedi training, I've been nearly as busy as you, I imagine." 

"How is your training going?"

"Master Durron is a very talented teacher," Jaina said truthfully, drawing on the Force to keep from smirking at the memory of certain lessons he'd taught her the night before. "In many different areas of expertise."

"It seems I have misjudged him," Ta'a Chume murmured.

Though the former queen did not show it outwardly, Jaina could sense the wheels turning in the woman's head, as the she began to consider how she could use the Jedi Master to further her plans.

She hid a smile, imagining the disappointment the older woman would feel when she found Kyp less than cooperative.

"I hope it wasn't anything important you needed to speak with me about," she said, redirecting Ta'a Chume's train of thought away from her Jedi Master.

"As a matter of fact, it is of great importance," Ta'a Chume replied.

It was amusing how quickly the former queen's demeanor turned serious, how the sly gleam in her eyes became more noticeable than ever, and Jaina wondered just who the woman thought she was fooling.

"I should congratulate you again on your success in repelling the scouting fleet from our orbit," Ta'a Chume began, and Jaina almost sighed at the pointless flattery, hoping she would get to the point soon. "You've done extremely well, but the Yuuzhan Vong will be back."

_Yes, they will,_ Jaina agreed, with an inward savage smirk. _And I'll be ready for them._

"It's time that you knew my mind," Ta'a Chume said somberly. "I want Teneniel Djo off the throne, and Isolder to marry a queen capable of ruling during war." 

Not really seeing what any of that had to do with her, Jaina shrugged. "Unless you want me to help Teneniel Djo pack," she retorted. "I have no idea why you're telling me this." 

The former queen sent her an arch, sidelong look that she didn't like in the least.

"I've often thought of how frustrating it must have been to always labor in the shadow of a famous mother."

_And a famous father, a famous uncle, an infamous grandfather... _Jaina felt like rolling her eyes. "A torpedo is launched, but no target is in sight," she observed flatly.

"The target is very obvious," Ta'a Chume said, sounding for all the world like a Hutt who thought the latest prize was within her clutches. "This is a common concern for young women in your position."

"It's the sort of thing that crosses your mind, yeah, but war has a way of making adolescent angst seem highly petty."

_And it has a way of making the real angst destroy you, _she added to herself, her heart wrenching for her brothers, and for her parents, who were half a galaxy away and trying to cope with the loss of their only sons. 

"But pettiness does not end with adolescence," Ta'a Chume went on. "No doubt you've noticed Tenel Ka's recent hostility toward you."

"We've had our differences," Jaina conceded, unwilling to go any further on that matter. "There's a lot of that going around among the Jedi these days."

"When did my granddaughter become concerned with philosophy?" the former queen scoffed. "No, Tenel Ka is prompted by a fear of being displaced by someone more worthy."

A whisper of clarity tugged at the back of her mind, and Jaina massaged her temples with both hands, feeling a bit dazed by the surreal direction this conversation had taken. "Someone like my mother, I suppose?" she asked, trying to keep her ire from creeping into her voice. "Is that what you're preparing me for? If so, I don't see the logic. My parents aren't likely to separate anytime soon, and I can't see my mother wanting the Hapan throne to begin with. Even if she did, that would just make me Queen Leia's heir, instead of Princess Leia's daughter. Not exactly coming out of the shadows, if that's what you're concerned about."

Ta'a Chume smiled like a sabacc player about to place the winning hand on the table. 

"You misunderstand, my dear," she said smoothly. "In these brutal times, Hapes needs a warrior queen- not Teneniel Djo, not Tenel Ka, not Princess Leia. A queen who seeks to understand the enemy, and attack boldly."

Like someone had switched on a light in her head, all of the pieces suddenly fell into place as her meaning hit Jaina full on, like a thud bug to the chest, and she wondered why she hadn't seen it from the start. This was what Ta'a Chume had been up to all along, from the moment Jaina first set foot on Hapes.

Unable to hold back her mirth, she began to snicker.

"I can just picture my father's reaction to the idea," she cried, remembering what Kyp had told her about the message her mother had left for them while they were away on Gallinore, about the fight between her father and the Hapan guards. "We're talking about Han Solo here- I'm surprised your ambassadors didn't have to kill him in self-defense!"

Oh, Kyp would love this, she could just picture him bursting out laughing when she told him.

"This is quite serious," Ta'a Chume insisted, lifting her nose.

With some difficulty, Jaina sobered, composing her expression. "I can see that," she said carefully. "I don't mean to offend, even the suggestion is an enormous honor, but I'm not interested."

Ta'a Chume was clearly not expecting that.

"Why not?"

"Why not?" Jaina echoed incredulously. "For starters, I'm too young."

"Nonsense," Ta'a Chume argued. "You are about the same age your mother was when she first set her heart upon an older man."

_Kyp's an older man,_ Jaina thought before she could stop herself. Once that little comparison of her parents had slipped into her mind, she was uncomfortably aware of the fact that perhaps her feelings for her tentative Jedi Master were not so different from those between her parents, after all. 

"Speaking of my father," she said pointedly, determined to push such thoughts away. "How many days did your ambassadors spend in a bacta tank?"

"I'll sure he'll come around to the idea," Ta'a Chume said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "He is a reasonable man." 

"He's never been accused of _that _before," Jaina retorted. "But that's neither here nor there. I don't know much about Hapan customs, but no one tells me who to marry. Not my parents, not my uncle, not my friends."

And especially not her Master.

She could just imagine how Kyp was going to react when he heard about this.

"And not me," Ta'a Chume included with a faint smile. "At least consider the possibility."

"I will," Jaina promised, although she really had no intention of doing anything of the sort. 

"We will speak again on this matter soon," Ta'a Chume said, and then swept off in the opposite direction, the guards who had waited at the end of the hall falling into step around her. 

Jaina watched her go, a whisper of dread filling her chest. 

She had hoped, until now, that her father had just been acting predictably when she'd heard about the scuffle, but now she knew that wasn't the cause, and she was suddenly worried for him. 

What if he did not "respond reasonably"?

And what of Teneniel Djo, who Jaina knew was unlikely to step aside? 

How far would Ta'a Chume go to get her way?

Since landing on Hapes, Jaina had been aware that the former queen had a plan in mind for her, but she had not bothered to find out what it was. The ships, pilots, weaponry and supplies that Ta'a Chume had been able to offer her had outweighed her distrust of Tenel Ka's grandmother.

Now, though, she wished she'd paid closer attention to her suspicions.

The brawl between her father and Ta'a Chume's "ambassadors" had left Han with a fractured skull, and it could have been much worse had Zekk not shown up when he did.

Who would get hurt next, when they were in the former queen's way?

Kyp?

The thought was sobering.

If Ta'a Chume was willing to go to any lengths to see Jaina upon the throne, because she mistakenly believed that she would be able to rule through the younger woman, then it was a good thing that no one else knew about the intimate turn her relationship with Kyp Durron had taken recently.

Because she had little doubt that the former queen would not hesitate to send yslamari-armed assassins after him, as well, if she felt he was a threat to her plans. 

Troubled, Jaina considered heading off to try and find Kyp, hoping he could help shed some light on what she was supposed to do about Ta'a Chume, but she decided against it. This was her problem, and she would figure out how to handle it on her own.

_Before Ta'a Chume decides to take matters into her own hands, _she thought grimly, heading back towards her room to try and seek some guidance from the Force.

When she arrived at her quarters, she didn't bother with the lights as she moved to the center of the room, folding her legs and settling herself down on the plush Kuati carpeting in a Jedi meditation position. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, drawing the Force close to her, and let it fill every fiber of her very being, granting her a rare moment of utter stillness and tranquility.

As she sank deep into thought and out into the current of the Force, an image began to form in her mind's eyes, as if from a dark mist.

The world around her changed and shifted, the luxurious palace bedroom fading into craggy rock and jagged coral formations as she fell back through time and space, to the place of her nightmares, to where two-thirds of her soul had been extinguished, and what was left had been reforged in black, cold fire.

Vast statues loomed over her, offering razor-tipped tentacles in return for devotion; deep shadows hid flashes of voxyn and the air was thick with death and grief.

Every shadow in every corner of the worldship where her brothers had fallen was filled with overwhelming, choking emotion: anger, fear, grief, betrayal, loneliness, despair... dark veils clung to the world around her, closing in on top of her and smothering her in her own anguish. 

Anakin.

Falling, over and over, surrounded by a hundred amphistaffs that continued to shred his flesh.

Jacen. 

Hanging from gnarled vines, vicious thorns digging into his body as blood pooled at his feet.

_"Jaya, help me!"_

Anakin writhing on the floor, impaled again and again, by her own hand.

_"Jaina, save me!"_

Jacen watching as the Trickster abandoned him, with her at the controls. 

_"Jaina, don't leave us!"_

The floor of the worldship arena was stained red with Anakin's blood, quenching the thirst of the merciless Yuuzhan Vong gods, even as his cells exploded with light, dissolving into nothingness.

Blood flowed down the vines cradling Jacen's broken body, seeping into the living torture device consuming his life, his agony fueling the monstrosity on with ravenous hunger.

_"Jaya!"_

Her brothers were reaching out to her, faces twisted into matching expressions of untold agony, and she desperately tried to reach back, to grab onto their hands and hold them to her, whether to keep them here or to follow them she didn't know.

But their fingers slipped from her grasp, again and again, and she could not seem to catch them.

Despair welled up within her, and she stumbled, unable to find her footing as she raced through the swirling mist and dark shadows, calling and calling for those who would never answer. The vast emptiness stretched on and on, far beyond her perceptions, and she found herself falling violently inward.

A pinprick of black light flickered to life behind her eyes, and then it erupted into a shockwave of blinding darkness that washed over her, enveloping her completely.

Just before she succumbed to the black gauze pressing in around her, she saw death, premeditated and plotted.

And then she saw nothing more.


	24. Chapter 24

A small silver orb hovered in the air, spinning slowly.

Laying on his cot, Kyp Durron continued to move the orb telekinetically, with purposeful laziness, just watching the orb glisten as rays of sunlight streaming in through the crack of his tent danced over it. 

In his mind's eye, he saw a beautiful face shimmering across the surface of the orb.

Jaina.

Then again, he saw her face just about everywhere these days.

Which was precisely what had led him back here to the refugee camp for the first time in days, to find a quiet place away from the palace, away from the hangar, and away from her.

He'd already come to the conclusion that wherever Jaina went, he would follow, but there were still some things he needed to settle within himself. The road before him was a treacherous one, one filled with danger and shadow, yet he wasn't afraid to take it.

After a few hours of quiet meditation, he had come to realize that he already had one foot on it.

Until now, he had been of the opinion that he was only dipping his toes into the waters of the dark side, but now he saw that he'd actually waded in up to his waist, without even realizing it.

And now a choice of terrible weight was before him.

He could either continue to try, futilely, to make his way out of the churning waters, and possibly drown himself and Jaina in the process, or he could surrender to it and let it take him where it willed. 

The ironic thing was, he'd taken that first small step down this path for Jaina, to try and pull her back from it.

But all he'd done was send her careening down it even faster, with him at her heels.

The Force was telling him that a great trial was looming before them, a test which would decide which direction they traveled onward together, but he had no idea what it might be, nor what decision they were supposed to make, or which of them would be forced to make it.

Sometimes, the Force was entirely too vague for his liking.

Regardless, it was clear that Jaina was dancing on the edge of a vibroblade, and she had him dancing with her.

_And when the music stops, _he thought grimly. _No one knows..._

With a small twist of the Force, he began to spin the orb overhead faster, to mirror the chaos of his inner thoughts.

Over the past week, he had told himself over and over that he couldn't let go, he couldn't just give in and lose himself in Jaina, no matter how desperately he ached to do just that, but the small, dangerous voice inside of himself that spoke of silky and seductive promises had grown stronger since then.

_Why not just give in to her?_ it continued to whisper, tempting him. _She wants you. You want her. Together, you could be more powerful than you've ever dreamed..._

But it wasn't power that drew him to Jaina, although she certainly had enough of it for that to be an appealing bonus. It was _her_ that he wanted; the woman who blushed despite herself when he made leering remarks, who laughed in the face of danger and death, who loved as passionately as she fought.

For her, he would do just about anything.

Even sell his soul to the dark side.

"You already have, Durron," he muttered to himself. "You just don't want to admit it yet."

He was well past the point of turning back.

There had been plenty of chances for him to do so, and yet he hadn't. On Gallinore, he'd gone along with Jaina's plans involving the Hapan pilot, despite his instincts, and since then he had overlooked each and every one of her new offenses.

The smart thing to do, the right thing to do, would have been to walk away.

If not before that night aboard the _Trickster_, then immediately after.

He should have gotten his things together, fueled up his X-wing, and blasted off to Eclipse before Jaina knew he was gone, hoping that he could convince Master Skywalker that he needed to go after his niece himself, lest things take a very dark turn for the galaxy.

But he couldn't bear not to be with her.

It was ridiculous, since his head had continuously told him that they would both be safer if he kept his distance, but he had found himself returning to her side over and over, unable to stay away.

And that had been his undoing. 

_Goddess,_ he thought with a heavy sigh. _You're going to be the death of me._

But what a way to go.

Snorting, he reached out with the Force to make the orb spin ever faster-

A sharp and sudden stab of anguish shot through him suddenly, like a searing vibroblade, and caused him to lose his concentration. Without his mind holding it up, the orb plummeted out of the air to crack him in the forehead, but he barely noticed.

_Jaina?_ he called, reaching out for her and finding only a foggy mist. _Jaina?_

Alarmed, he swung his legs over the side of his cot and was running out of the tent the moment his feet touched the ground.

The swoop he'd borrowed from the city was waiting just outside, and he vaulted onto it, starting the engine with the Force and then gunning it sharply. He lifted off to the ground so as not to run over any refugees moving about the camp, and headed in the direction of the palace as fast as the swoop would carry him, the swirling mess of fear and anger he'd felt surge up in Jaina moments before now pushing him forward.

By the time he made it to the palace, he was so on edge that he simply cut the engine, leapt off, and didn't bother parking the swoop as he took off in the direction of the east wing, where Jaina's room was, at a run.

A few guards moved to intercept him, to question him about his intentions, but he merely waved a hand at them, and slipped past unnoticed with a trick of the Force. At the moment, he had neither the time nor the patience to bother with them, and they were lucky all he'd done was redirect their thoughts.

If Jaina was in trouble, he would let no one get in his way.

He continued to try and reach her through the Force, even as he hurried through the winding corridors of the east wing, but all he got was a dim sense of her presence, and he knew that she was unconscious.

Quickening his pace, he barreled around the corner and rushed to her door, bypassing the lock with the Force.

As soon as the door slid open, he hurried inside, and flipped on the lights with a thought, to find Jaina laying on the floor near the bed where he'd been spending all of his nights as of late, and a good deal of his mornings, crumpled as if she'd fallen suddenly.

"Jaina," he cried, making his way to her side and crouching down over her, lifting her up into a sitting position in his arms. She was a little pale, but not much, and there was no sign of injury that he could see or sense, so it had to be a Force thing, most likely a trance that had ended with enough of a shock to knock her out. "Jaina, wake up."

Even as he spoke aloud, he sent gentle, probing calls to her through the Force, reaching beyond the barrier of consciousness to try and draw her out again.

_Jaina... Come on, Goddess. Wake up._

Within the deep recesses of her mind, he felt her stir. 

_That's it, _he coaxed. _Follow me out, sweetheart. I've got you._

Instead of the slow, gradual ascent back to awareness that he'd been expecting, Jaina shot awake with a sharp bolt of tangled emotions that drilled into his head through the Force, and he winced, knowing he was going to have a headache from that one.

"Jaina?"

She came to with a start, breathing as hard as if she had just run a twenty-kilometer sprint through the jungles of Yavin Four. Her eyes were wild and full of unbridled panic, and for a moment she clearly had no idea where she was or that he was even there with her.

"Jaina," Kyp said gently, putting the soothing touch of the Force behind his voice. "It's all right. You're safe, everything is all right. I'm here."

Slowly, she seemed to become aware of his presence, and she turned dazed eyes in his direction.

"Kyp," she breathed, chest heaving as she gasped in a short breaths of air, reality slowly beginning to set back in. "I..."

"Just relax," Kyp ordered. "Take a deep breath, and relax." 

Nodding, Jaina closed her eyes, and he felt her draw on Jedi calming techniques to steady her breathing and slow her racing pulse. When she opened her eyes again after a few short moments, her eyes still carried a dim and bleak echo, haunted with ghosts the likes of which Kyp understood all too well.

"You brought me out," Jaina concluded softly, and he nodded. "Why?"

Rocking back onto his heels, Kyp placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know something of what you're going through," he reminded her truthfully. "I lost my brother, as well. And the visions..." he trailed off, knowing he didn't need to explain.

Not to Jaina.

Here was the one person in all the galaxy that could truly understand, who he could share everything with.

"I saw my brothers," she rasped, and a faint shudder passed through her small body.

Instinctively, Kyp put his arms around her, and when she didn't shrug him off, he sat back on the floor, putting his back against the side of her bed, and drew her close to his chest, as if he could protect her from the images she'd seen, from the grief and horrors of losing Jacen and Anakin.

If it had been possibly, he would have undone that hurt, and all others that she would ever suffer.

But he couldn't, all he could do was hold her.

And so he did just that.

"What made you go into a trance anyway?" he inquired after a few heartbeats.

"Something Ta'a Chume said," Jaina murmured, and he felt a stirring of anxiety within her. "I found out what it is she's had in mind for me."

"Oh?" Kyp raised an eyebrow.

"You're not going to like it," she warned.

"That doesn't come as much of a surprise," Kyp said dryly. "So what is the former queen of Hapes trying to pull over on us now?"

"She wants me to marry Isolder and become the new Queen of Hapes," Jaina said flatly. "A queen that she can control and manipulate, allowing her to essentially rule through me."

Well, she was right about one thing- he didn't like it.

Stunned, Kyp couldn't speak for several moments.

"I find it hard to believe anyone could control you, Goddess," he managed evenly.

"Don't worry," Jaina said, tilting her head up to flash him a weak, wry smile. "I'm not considering it."

Those words filled him with more relief than he'd ever felt, and he realized then that even if she had been considering it, it wouldn't have mattered, because he would have fought for her.

And he would have fought as dirty as necessary to keep her away from Isolder.

"That's sweet," Jaina said, lips twitching, as she picked up on his thoughts. "In a twisted sort of way."

"You'd know all about twisted, wouldn't you, Goddess?" Kyp retorted. 

A soft laugh escaped her lips. "I suppose I would," she agreed with a sigh. "But I don't think I'd need you to protect me from Isolder, or Ta'a Chume."

"I'll protect you whether you want me to or not," Kyp informed her bluntly.

She looked at him with complete and utter consternation, but she also looked, despite herself, a little touched. Something went soft in her eyes, in the tautness of her shoulders, and the tilt of her head. She didn't realize it, of course, but Kyp did, and it pleased him more than he was willing to admit.

"We could protect each other," she conceded. "You watch my back, I watch yours."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Kyp agreed with a weak smile.

They sat like that in comfortable silence for a moment, and then he needed to ask, he had to ask.

"You really weren't tempted by Ta'a Chume's proposal? By all the power she was offering you?" 

"No," Jaina answered without hesitation, sounding a bit amused. "I wasn't."

"Why not?" Kyp asked carefully, knowing the wrong wording could set off her temper. "You said it yourself, Hapes has the resources that are invaluable during this war."

"Are you saying you think I should accept?"

"No," Kyp said sharply. "No, absolutely not!"

Only when Jaina grinned up at him did he realize that she had been teasing him, and his cheeks flushed in rueful embarrassment.

"Er, no," he amended sheepishly. "That wasn't what I was saying. I was just... pleasantly surprised that you hadn't considered it." 

Jaina shrugged, as if they were discussing something as trivial as a game of sabacc. "I don't have any desire to be queen, of Hapes or any other world," she replied, and he could sense the cool sincerity behind her words. "I don't want power, at least not that kind. All I want is to find a way to beat the Vong, to hurt them as badly as they've hurt the rest of the galaxy." 

Wasn't that what Kyp wanted, too? To defeat the Yuuzhan Vong and end this war?

When Jaina asked him what he wanted a moment later, though, his answer was much simpler, and yet much more complicated.

"You," he said softly.

"Good," she said, and smiled a little smile that somewhere close to a smirk, tilting her head up to kiss him.

It was just a short, brief little kiss, but it still managed to set his heart racing.

"How did Ta'a Chume take it when you turned her down?" he asked. 

Jaina rolled her eyes. "She was less than pleased," she informed him, clearly an understatement. "She wouldn't hear it, so I told her I'd at least consider it, even though there's hardly anything to consider."

"She certainly seems to think you'll come around to the idea," Kyp observed, a sense of unease settling in the pit of his stomach.

"Yeah, well, she also thinks that my father is going to warm up to it," Jaina retorted.

Kyp snorted.

"My thoughts exactly," Jaina drawled. "The 'ambassadors' she sent to him about it nearly had to..." she trailed off sharply and suddenly, her eyes growing distant and glossy, and he sensed flickerings of her vision replaying now behind her dark, stormy eyes.

"Jaina?" he asked worriedly.

A wave of horrified realization slammed into her like a durasteel wall, but her thoughts were too chaotic, too jumbled, for him to get a clear read on what she'd just figured out.

"Jaina?" Kyp took her by the shoulders, shaking her gently, and she snapped out of it, eyes widening in alarm. "What now?" he demanded.

"Find Tenel Ka," Jaina ordered, scrambling to her feet. "Tell her to get to her mother, now! Teneniel Djo is in danger."

Startled, Kyp could only stare at her as she slipped out of his grasp, heading for the door.

"And where are you going?" he cried. 

Jaina paused at the door, slapping her hand against the touchpad, and looked back at him with a dark, cold gleam in her eyes. A gleam that reminded him of what he imagined it felt like to have Darth Vader glaring at you from behind his mask.

"I'm going to give Ta'a Chume my answer," she replied coolly. 

Before he had time to wonder what that meant, Jaina was gone. 

For a moment, Kyp considered going after her, to demand an explanation, but her words about Teneniel Djo struck a chord within him, and he knew he had to find Tenel Ka.

Before it was too late.


	25. Chapter 25

A voice called to her through the darkness.

It was distant, but familiar, and ebbed with a sense of warm power that was both comforting and compelling.

A sudden sense of urgency swelled up within her, and she latched onto the voice calling to her, letting it flood into her senses. Consciousness rushed back at her, hitting her full-force and causing her to inhale sharply as she jolted upright, gasping for air and breathing hard.

_Jacen convulsing inside of a cocoon of thorny vines... Anakin's eyes rolling back in his head as blood spilled from his lips..._

"Jaina?"

_Blood everywhere... someone screaming..._

"Jaina." The voice that had brought her out of the darkness touched her again, soothing and concerned. "It's all right. You're safe, everything is all right. I'm here."

In slow motion, her surroundings began to become clear again, and she realized, half-dazed, that she was on the floor of the palace bedroom Ta'a Chume had given her for the duration of her stay on Hapes. Following the sound of the voice speaking to her, she looked into a pair of intense emerald eyes, full of concern and emotions too deep to discern.

"Kyp," she gasped, chest heaving as she took short, ragged breaths. "I..." 

"Just relax," he told her. "Take a deep breath, and relax."

Closing her eyes, Jaina took a few deep, soothing breaths, allowing the Force to calm her racing heart and help push the tortured anguish coursing through her far enough aside that she could breath normally again.

When she opened her eyes a few moments later, she realized that Kyp still had an arm around her, supporting her, and she was grateful for it. "You brought me out," she observed softly. "Why?"

The Jedi Master rocked back on his heels, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I know something of what you're going through, I lost my brother, as well," he replied grimly. "And the visions..." 

He didn't need to finish that thought.

After what she'd just seen, Jaina had a pretty good idea of what kind of horrors his own trances must have shown him.

"I saw my brothers," she rasped, and despite herself, she shuddered at the memory.

_"Jaya, help! Jaya!"_

The phantom echo of their screams faded when Kyp slid his arms around her, and Jaina let him pull her back against his chest as he leaned back against the side of her bed, the bed where just last night she had fallen asleep in his arms, the haze of passion sending her into a peaceful and dreamless sleep.

"What made you go into a trance anyway?"

Kyp's question brought her buried anxiety back to the surface.

"Something Ta'a Chume said," she answered softly. "I found out what it is she's had in mind for me."

"Oh?"

"You're not going to like it," she warned him.

"That doesn't come as much of a surprise," Kyp said dryly. "So what is the former queen of Hapes trying to pull over on us now?" 

And so she told him about her conversation with Ta'a Chume, about the surprising offer Tenel Ka's grandmother had made her, watching him carefully, curious to see how he would react.

He didn't disappoint.

"I find it hard to believe anyone could control you, Goddess."

Though his expression was a blank canvas, revealing nothing, and his tone was carefully neutral, she could feel the surge of jealousy within him, the outrage that anyone would presume to take away what he considered, subconsciously and otherwise, to be his, and the dread that she herself would walk away for something better.

Despite herself, she smiled. 

"Don't worry," she told him. "I'm not considering it."

The surge of relief that swept through him only made her smile broaden, and she got the rather distinct, and fierce, impression that he would have been ready to march up to Isolder and draw his lightsaber if it had come to that.

"That's sweet," Jaina said, amused. "In a twisted sort of way." 

"You'd know all about twisted, wouldn't you, Goddess?" he shot back.

"I suppose I would," she chuckled ruefully. "But I don't think I'd need you to protect me from Isolder, Master, or Ta'a Chume."

"I'll protect you whether you want me to or not," Kyp retorted stubbornly.

Jaina attempted to glare at him, but it was halfhearted at best.

"We could protect each other," she allowed, acknowledging to herself that they had been doing just that for some time now, without even realizing it. "You watch my back, I watch yours."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

They sat like that for a few moments, and Jaina savored the rare tranquility, before Kyp cleared his throat.

"You really weren't tempted by Ta'a Chume's proposal?" he asked tentatively. "By all the power she was offering you?"

"No," Jaina answered immediately, more than a little amused by his lingering jealousy. "I wasn't."

"Why not? You said it yourself, Hapes has the resources that are invaluable during this war."

"Are you saying you think I should accept?" she asked, completely deadpan.

"No!" His vehement response made her grin. "No, absolutely not!"

Seeing her smile must have made him realize that she'd been teasing him, because he gave a rueful cough, his cheeks flushing a little.

"Er, no," he said, clearing his throat again, sheepish after his overzealous opposition to the idea. "That wasn't what I was saying. I was just... pleasantly surprised that you hadn't considered it." 

"I don't have any desire to be queen, of Hapes or any other world," Jaina assured him with a shrug. "I don't want power- at least not that kind," she amended, unable to deny that the kind of power the Force had to offer was precisely what she wanted, and needed, to defeat the Yuuzhan Vong. "All I want is to find a way to beat the Vong, to hurt them as badly as they've hurt the rest of the galaxy."

Kyp quietly mulled that over for a moment.

"What about you?" Jaina asked, knowing what the answer would be. "What do you want?" 

"You," he admitted.

"Good," she replied, smirking, and leaned her head up kiss him in reward for that.

When they drew apart, Kyp had to shake his head a little to clear his thoughts, which filled her with smug satisfaction.

"How did Ta'a Chume take it when you turned her down?" he asked.

"She was less than pleased," she said, rolling her eyes. "She wouldn't hear it, so I told her I'd at least consider it, even though there's hardly anything to consider."

"She certainly seems to think you'll come around to the idea."

Feeling the uncertainty beneath his shields, Jaina smiled. "Yeah, well, she also thinks that my father is going to warm up to it."

Kyp snorted, sharing her sentiments.

"My thoughts exactly," Jaina drawled. "The 'ambassadors' she sent to him about it nearly had to..." she trailed off suddenly, a fleeting image from her trance dancing on the edges of her awareness, and she sent her thoughts chasing after it, a sense of urgency growing in the pit of her stomach.

_A pale hand lifting a goblet to dry, parched lips... red hair falling over a lifeless face... a young one-armed woman leaning over a bed, tears falling... somewhere else, regal, calculating eyes poured over the report in hand and smiled..._

"Jaina?" she distantly heard Kyp calling to her. 

_Teneniel Djo's lifeless gray eyes stared back at her._

Realization plowed into her now, and Jaina reeled in numb horror at what had been taking place right under her nose all along, what the Force had been trying to tell her in half-heard whispers, but she hadn't understood until now.

Everything inside of her went cold, pitiless and razor-sharp.

"Jaina?" 

Strong hands shook her, and she blinked, looking up at Kyp with wide eyes.

"What now?" he asked worriedly. 

"Find Tenel Ka," Jaina ordered, scrambling to her feet and ducking out of his arms as she headed for the door. "Tell her to get to her mother, now! Teneniel Djo is in danger." 

"And where are you going?" Kyp demanded.

Slapping her hand against the touchpad, Jaina looked back with narrowed eyes and a cold expression. "I'm going to give Ta'a Chume my answer," she informed him, and then slipped out the door and into the empty hall before he could respond.

She was already breaking into a run before the door even slid closed behind her.

As she ran through the winding corridors of the palace, the Force guiding her footsteps more than any facet of memory, her chest burned with raging fury.

What if she was too late?

_No,_ she thought sharply. Enough Jedi had been killed already, and while she wasn't technically a Jedi Knight, Teneniel Djo would not die, too. 

She wouldn't allow it.

The anger churning inside of her was double-bladed, as cold as the jagged icicles of Hoth and yet blazing like a rolling river of lava on Sullest. It flooded her entire being, filling her veins like liquid durasteel, and twisted the brilliant power core within her into a ravenous storm that could neither be contained nor controlled.

By the time she reached her destination, it was a fury ready to be unleashed.

The armed guards stationed at the doors at the end of the hall spotted her as soon as she came around the corner, and her murderous intent must have shown itself on her face, because all four of them tensed and two started toward her, motioning for their counterparts to remain in front of the door.

Without breaking her stride, Jaina gestured with one hand, sending them both crashing into the wall.

No sooner had the two guards slumped to the floor unconscious, the other two drew their weapons.

Both blasters soared out of their hands and past her head, clattering to the floor somewhere behind her as she discarded them. To their credit, the Hapan guards didn't back down, but they were nothing more than a pest buzzing about her ear, and she called the dark energy to life at her fingertips, hurling it to catch the first and slam him into the ceiling overhead.

Force lightning held him there, pinned against the durasteel as the jagged energy tore through his flesh. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Jaina saw the remaining guard reach for his comm-link, and let the guard drop from the ceiling, unconscious even before he hit the floor.

The comm-link darted away from the final guard, hovering in front of him as it crushed itself inward under the power of the Force.

And then, like his comm-link, he found himself hanging in midair, for just a moment, just long enough for his terrified gaze to meet her own, and Jaina flicked her wrist, sending him sailing across the hall to crash through the transparisteel and into the small lobby on the other side.

Not bothering to give any of the fallen guards a second glance, Jaina continued towards the doors ahead.

Pushing the doors open, she strode purposefully into the room.

Ta'a Chume looked up from her afternoon tea, surprise evident on her graceful features even as she lowered her cup to the table. "I wasn't expecting you, my dear," she said smoothly, beginning to rise. "You should have called ahead, I would have had an extra-" 

"Sit down," Jaina ordered sharply.

Taken aback by her tone, the former queen actually did just that.

"Your plot failed, old woman," Jaina announced coldly. "Teneniel Djo lives, and will continue to do so."

Even as she spoke the words, she knew them to be true. Kyp and Tenel Ka had gotten there in time to prevent Ta'a Chume's assassins from administering the poison. The Queen of Hapes would survive, and in time she would recover her strength, with rest and healing from the Force.

She took a moment to savor the look on Ta'a Chume's face, her shock showing through the cracks in her composed mask, and her bitter defeat singing across the Force. Still, the old woman was crafty and sly, and still believed that she could weasel her way out of the mess she'd gotten herself into, if not with words or bribery, then with manipulation and deceit.

It was, Jaina decided with a cool smirk, almost sad.

The woman did not yet realize that her fate was already sealed.

"Every day she grows stronger," Jaina added, just to rub salt in the wound. "Both physically and in the Force, and one day she will be at full strength again."

Her smug confidence must have been evident, even to a Force-blind fool like Ta'a Chume, for the woman deflated a little, no doubt imagining what Teneniel Djo would have to say about the matter, and knowing that Isolder and Tenel Ka both would side against the former queen.

"But you won't live to see it," she informed the woman flatly.

Ta'a Chume stiffened, the meaning behind Jaina's words clear, and she rose to her feet, shoulders back and assuming her most authoritative posture. "How dare you," she seethed, lifting her chin. "Guards!" 

When there was no response, Ta'a Chume's gaze flickered to the doors, and panic started to creep in.

Jaina merely smirked.

"Guards!" she cried again, this time positively shouting as fear began to overwhelm her. "Guards!" 

"Did you really think?" Jaina asked with deadly calm, watching the terrified old woman back away from her. "That you could manipulate _me_? The _granddaughter_ of _Darth Vader_?"

As if to prove her point, Jaina curled her hand into a claw, and the former queen's eyes began to bulge, her hands going to her throat as she frantically, and futilely, tried to tear the constricting phantom hands away from around her neck.

It was hard to say what was the stronger emotion rolling off of the woman in the Force, desperation to escape, to live, or the deep-seeded fear that still lingered where the name Darth Vader was a spoken, a mantle which had now been passed on to his eldest grandchild.

"You are nothing, Ta'a Chume," she sneered. "But a speck of dirt upon my boots."

The once great, proud and regal Ta'a Chume's face contorted hideously as she fought for a final, desperate breath, and then she collapsed to the floor.

Jaina stared emotionlessly down at the lifeless body of the former queen for a long moment.

And then she turned and calmly strolled out of the room.


	26. Chapter 26

Ducking instinctively under the high kicked aimed at the back of her head, she whirled around to slap aside the second kick with her strong forearm.

As her attacker staggered back, Tenel Ka advanced, dropping to the floor suddenly and sweeping her right leg out to try and catch the man's foot, but he jumped over her swipe. The moment his feet touched the ground, though, her other leg came around to clip him in the back of the ankle, and he went down hard.

A tingle shot up her neck, and she rolled aside just as a stun baton crashed to the floor where her head had been moments before. Springing to her feet, she turned as yet another attacker charged her, and she leapt into a tight spin, a booted foot slamming into his jaw with a vicious crack that echoed through the entire room, even over the sounds of the fight still taking place around her.

Her left foot shot out and caught him just below the rib cage, knocking the wind out of him, and he reeled back into the wall, head cracking into the durasteel, then slumped to the floor.

Dodging another swipe of a stun baton, Tenel Ka turned to face the last of her attackers, calling her rancor-tooth lightsaber hilt into her hand and igniting it with one fluid movement as she fell into a dueler's crouch. Her turquoise blade leapt towards the armed man, and he stumbled back to avoid having his throat opened upon it.

With fear showing in his eyes, he swiped at her lightsaber with the stun baton desperately, which proved a mistake.

The metal end of the weapon sheared off, and sparks exploded from the severed weapon, sending a jolt of electric shock back into its wielder, causing his blond hair to spike and stand on end.

His hands shaking as the shock went through him, the man dropped his stun baton, and stumbled back into a wall.

Tenel Ka straightened, her lightsaber still in hand, and strode purposefully over to him, grasping him by the front of his shirt. "Who sent you?" she demanded stonily, making sure that his eyes never left her turquoise blade, which hovered close to his throat. "I demand that you tell me."

Just as she had expected, the assassin refused to speak.

Not even when she moved her lightsaber closer to his throat.

Then, he merely closed his eyes tight, swallowing hard, his entire body trembling, and not solely from the shock he'd received through the destroyed stun baton.

But there were other methods of getting the answers she sought.

Some of her ancestors, former queens of the Hapes Consortium, would have resorted to torture, and there were many untold agonies that loyal guards had been trained to inflict in order to extract information, but Tenel Ka did not need to resort to such a thing.

Unlike her ancestors, particularly her great-grandmother who had founded the anti-Jedi Ni'Korish, the Force was with Tenel Ka and it was her ally.

Delving deep into the mind of her attacker, she found what she was looking for.

And she couldn't say that she was all that surprised. 

Extinguishing her lightsaber, Tenel Ka brought the blunt end of its hilt down against the man's temple, rendering him unconscious, and let him collapse on the floor.

A single blaster bolt spliced through the air behind her, followed by a thud.

Hooking her lightsaber in its rightful place at her side, Tenel Ka turned to see her father lowering a still-smoking blaster, his tired features set with grim determination.

Sensing a forewarning, she stepped back calmly just as the last remaining Ni'Korish agent went crashing by into the wall, where he promptly landed in a heap atop his comrade, eyes rolling up into the back of his head. He went limp, arms and legs sprawled, but he would live.

Which was more than could be said for some of his companions.

Narrowing her eyes in disapproval at the two dead Ni'Korish across the room, Tenel Ka watched silently as her fellow Jedi likewise extinguished his lightsaber.

"Don't give me that look," Kyp Durron snapped irritably, moving a body aside with his foot. "Would you have preferred I let them throw their vibroblades at your mother?" 

Tenel Ka did not bother to answer that.

His blaster still in hand, as if he wasn't willing to risk any more attackers appearing from the shadows, Isolder twisted his body around to look down at his estranged wife as she lay sleeping in her bed.

The tender relief she saw in his eyes drained some of the tension from Tenel Ka's shoulders.

Things had not been well between her parents for some time now, ever since Fondor, but if the expression on her father's face was any indication, there was still hope for them to work things out.

And thanks to Kyp Durron's help in foiling this assassination attempt, there was a future, as well. 

"Your speed allowed us to save my mother's life, Master Durron," Tenel Ka told him evenly. "You have my gratitude." 

_Even if I still do not fully trust you,_ she added to herself, keeping such thoughts carefully guarded.

"Don't thank me," Kyp retorted. "Jaina's the one who had the vision."

"Ah," Tenel Ka murmured. "Aha." 

He must have picked up on the underlying anxiety that mention of her friend brought, because Kyp gave her a hard look, something warning and challenging in his swirling emerald eyes.

After a long moment of meeting his stare head-on, Tenel Ka looked away and sighed.

Despite her concerns about the negative influence that he might have upon Jaina, a part of her had been hoping that the young Jedi Master might prove capable of pulling her back from the course she'd chosen to take after Myrkr, since nothing else seemed to be working.

Now, she realized how terribly mistaken she had been.

It was not Kyp's influence on Jaina that she should have been worrying about, but rather Jaina's influence on him. 

Clearly, the relationship between the two had progressed beyond what was acceptable for a Master and his apprentice, but then again, Tenel Ka doubted very much that Jaina was the student any longer.

And Kyp, for all his power and willful determination, was wrapped around her finger like a coiled wire.

Her personal distaste for Kyp Durron's methods and the discord he sowed among the Jedi aside, she had to admit that it was, perhaps, not entirely his fault. After all, he was not the only one who failed to see what was right in front of him.

On more than one occasion, Tenel Ka had tried to express her fears for Jaina to Lowbacca, but their Wookiee friend was too loyal and his affection for Jaina too strong for him to see the truth. Working side by side with Jaina on the _Trickster_, he was too close to the situation to see if for what it really was, to realize that he, like everyone else, had become just another pawn in Jaina's dejarik game. 

Needless to say, he hadn't appreciated the insinuation that Jaina was dangerous.

A Wookiee's temper was nothing to be trifled with.

And he had made a good point, when he'd defended Jaina by saying that grief and loss made people do crazy, stupid things, that it clouded your judgment. Lowbacca, as he had reminded her, knew firsthand how grief worked, having lost his beloved uncle Chewbacca at the very start of the war.

Sensing that she had been treading on sensitive ground, Tenel Ka had allowed him to get back to his work with the villips, attempting to attune them to display whole scenes, like a holocam would, rather than just the face of the one speaking. It had been a request from Jaina, who apparently had something up her sleeve that she wanted to make sure the Yuuzhan Vong got a good, hard look at, but Lowbacca was not nearly as unsettled by this as Tenel Ka was.

Before leaving, though, she had given him something to consider, hoping it might help him see the truth.

How easily Jaina dismissed the lives of his fellow Wookiee techs, his friends, to further her own agenda in this war.

Lowbacca had simply stared down at the villip in his large, furry hands, for a long time, deeply troubled, and he had not moved for some time after her departure.

_I feel your troubles, my friend, _she thought wearily.

She did not like being so useless, so helpless, unable to do anything but stand by and watch as a friend, the woman she considered to be her best friend, after Jacen Solo, fell into darkness.

How fiercely she wished that Jacen were here now.

If anyone could have saved his twin sister, it would have been him.

Then again, considering how Jaina had lashed out at Jacen on the worldship, how she had blamed him for Anakin's death, cursing him for dragging her away and leaving their younger brother to die alone, perhaps it would not have made any difference.

And she would not wish that hurt on Jacen, no matter how desperately she ached to see his face just one more time.

To hear him tell one of the poor jokes he'd endlessly cracked off during their youth, to see that kind smile of his, to melt into his embrace and confess all of the fears and insecurities that had taken hold of her as of late.

To get the chance to give him that last kiss, which had been denied to them by Vergere's interruption.

She had loved him since girlhood, and loved him so deeply and so completely that every day was now a struggle for her. A part of her had always known that if she were forced to take the throne, there could never be a real future for them, Jacen was not meant for the insidious court of Hapes and she would never presume to bring him into such a place, even if he were to offer.

But now her mother's strength was beginning to return, and if her parents worked things out, they might try again to conceive another child, another heir, freeing Tenel Ka to follow her destiny as a Jedi.

Only now there was no fleeting hope for a family of her own, for children and the happiness of a marriage like the one Master Skywalker shared with his wife.

Because Jacen was dead.

It had not gotten any easier to say those words, to accept that Jacen, like his younger brother, was gone forever, that he was never coming back. A part of her kept refusing to believe it, despite the fact that she had felt his death, insisting that Jacen couldn't possibly be dead, that he was just missing, but she could not allow such flights of fancy.

They would destroy her. 

"It's too bad you couldn't get that one to talk, Princess," Kyp Durron said, nodding towards the assassin who was slumped against the wall behind her. He paused, then arched an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth lifting faintly. "Or did you?" 

Isolder looked up sharply.

"I discovered the identity of his employer, yes," Tenel Ka replied evenly.

Her father must have seen something in her eyes, or heard something in her voice, or maybe Isolder was just more intuitive than she gave him credit for.

"Ta'a Chume," he concluded with quiet grimness.

"That is a fact," Tenel Ka confirmed, suppressing her own grim loathing for the woman, for it was unbecoming of a Jedi. "My grandmother wished to dispose of my mother in order to pave the way for a new queen of her choosing." 

"She has gone too far," Isolder said, shaking his head sadly. "The woman has no limits."

Tenel Ka suspected her father was remembering his own brother's suspicious death, and the death of her uncle's wife, both of whom had been in Ta'a Chume's way before Tenel Ka was even born.

"She must be detained," Isolder insisted, the set of his eyes narrowing sharply. "Tenel Ka, have guards escort your grandmother to her quarters and lock her in until we can proceed with a trial."

A trial which would lead directly to execution, Tenel Ka knew, for that was the way of things when one threatened a member of the Hapan royal family, much less the ruling queen, and not even Ta'a Chume was above such laws.

"That is not necessary," she told him somberly, and her heart wrenched, but not for her grandmother. "Ta'a Chume is dead." 

Both her father and Master Durron started at that, staring at her with blatant shock.

"Dead?" Isolder echoed flatly.

There was a slight twinge of grief for the loss of his traitorous mother, but only slight, and the sense Tenel Ka got from him was mostly one of relief.

She could not share in that sentiment.

Neither, apparently, could Kyp Durron, for the Jedi Master turned and slipped silently from the room, a heavy weight closing in upon his shoulders.

He, too, knew the truth.

"How?" Isolder asked.

"My grandmother has been pressuring you to set my mother aside," Tenel Ka said evenly, and her father flinched, guilt in his eyes as he looked at her. "She wished for you to marry Jaina Solo, enabling her to rule through a young, inexperienced queen that she thought she could manipulate."

Isolder's jaw set grimly, but he did not speak, allowing her to continue.

"Ta'a Chume was a fool," Tenel Ka concluded. "If Jaina had consented to this, it would not have been my grandmother pulling the strings. She would have found herself a pawn in Jaina's hands, and she would not have even realized it until it was too late." 

"You really think that Jaina is capable of such a thing?" Isolder inquired.

It was a terrible question he asked, but no more terrible than the answer she had to give.

Tenel Ka met her father's gaze evenly. "Ta'a Chume is dead," she reminded him, but this time she did not hold back the truth which was weighing upon her heart. "At Jaina Solo's hand."

His eyes widened, but to his credit, he didn't show a drastic reaction. Growing up among the Hapan court had taught him to keep his emotions close to his chest, lest they be used against him, and it was a lesson he had not learned without a price.

"You're certain about this?" Isolder asked slowly.

Tenel Ka was not offended by his skepticism, if she had not felt it herself, she would have refused to believe it, as well.

"I have come to realize as of late," she replied quietly. "That Jaina is on a path that no one can pull her back from now that her brothers are dead."

A heavy silence fell over the room, thick and oppressive, gloom clinging to the air around them, and it seemed to seep into Tenel Ka's skin, into her bones and her blood, into her very soul.

"I do not know what to do," she confessed in a hushed whisper, and a cloud of tormented despair welled up inside of her, tearing at her heart with relentless hunger and battering the flimsy shields that were barely supporting her fragile composure. "If we try to arrest Jaina, more people will die. She will not allow us to take her into custody."

"She did save your mother's life," Isolder pointed out gently after a long moment of tense silence. "And my mother, despite our blood ties, was a traitor and a murderer. Your mother would not have been the first victim of her treachery, though Ta'a Chume would never sully herself with the task personally, there is much blood on her hands just the same. She would have been executed if Jaina had not taken matters into her own hands."

"You say this to comfort me," Tenel Ka replied sharply. "But it does no such thing. Jaina Solo is a Jedi, she knows that a Jedi should never take a life except when it is in the safekeeping of others. My grandmother's death was not justice, however righteous Jaina thinks it was."

"Then what was it?" Isolder asked. 

"The dark side," Tenel Ka said quietly, turning away. "And I fear that Jaina has become lost to us now." 

"Perhaps you should contact Princess Leia then?" Isolder suggested with a worried frown. "Or Master Skywalker?" 

"Perhaps," Tenel Ka agreed, but she was uncertain if even they could do anything at this point.

Things had progressed too far, too quickly, and the Force was telling her that there was no clear way to undo what had happened, to untangle the jagged knots inside of Jaina Solo.

A shrill alarm spliced through the air and cut through her thoughts as the invasion alert sounded.

The Yuuzhan Vong had arrived at last.

Looking down at her right hand, Tenel Ka's eyes came to rest on the large emerald ring her mother had put there just a few weeks prior, and then sharply curled her fingers into a fist, causing a hologram to flicker to life between them.

A nebulous swirl of darkness and mists filled the air.

Through the Force, she felt her father's confusion turn into surprise, hope swelling in his chest as the hologram showed the mists parting to reveal five enormous starships, with hundreds of smaller ships spilling out of them. 

"This is my mother's work," Tenel Ka said quietly, and Isolder's eyes softened. "She foresaw the Yuuzhan Vong threat and prepared. Much of the fleet that was lost at Fondor has been rebuilt, hidden away in the Transitory Mists. I have just given the signal for these ships to come to our aid."

"I had no idea," Isolder murmured, more to himself than to his daughter.

Even without the Force, Tenel Ka would have sensed the guilt he felt for losing faith in his ailing wife, for the distance that had grown between them ever since what he saw as his own failure at Fondor. The destruction of the fleet had hit Teneniel Djo through the Force, causing her to miscarry the child growing in her womb, and her health had been deteriorating ever since.

_But you will grow strong again, Mother,_ she thought, willing some of her strength to the sleeping woman. _The Force wills it so. Your time has not yet ended._

Her own, however, was just beginning.

"I need to address the court," she told her father evenly. "As my mother's regent."

Isolder gazed down at her for a moment, then laid a hand on her shoulder. "I am proud of you," he said softly, and then his eyes darted back towards the bed where Teneniel Djo lay sleeping. "And your mother will be proud of you, as well."

Tenel Ka nodded in acknowledgment of his praise. "You will stay with her?" she requested.

"I will," Isolder promised, and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "May the Force be with you, my daughter."

As she made her way towards the court hall, Tenel Ka dearly hoped that the Force was with her today. 

Because she needed its guidance now more than ever.


	27. Chapter 27

It wasn't hard to find her.

On his way back to her quarters in the east wing of the palace, the invasion alarms had sounded, alerting the city that the Yuuzhan Vong had arrived.

Kyp Durron had turned on his heel, heading instinctively for the docking bay.

They had known that the Yuuzhan Vong would be back, and in full force, but they hadn't known when. All of Jaina's diversionary tactics, her tricks, had bought the Hapans time to build a defense, to gather as many able pilots as they could find and to bring some in from other worlds in the Consortium.

From a statistical point of view, the sacrifices of the pilots she had sent up to their deaths was more than worth it.

That was an unacceptable way of thinking for a Jedi Master, and the Jedi in him protested, insisting that nothing could sanction such callous disregard for human life, but, as was the case more and more often as of late, he didn't really listen to those arguments.

Instead, he found himself storming silently over to the Yuuzhan Vong frigate which had become Jaina's prize to put on display to their enemies, her trophy to commemorate all that she had endured at Myrkr, all that she had survived unscathed.

Although, he supposed that depended on one's definition of 'unscathed'.

Stalking up the lowered coral ramp with smooth, soundless strides, he entered the living ship like a wraith, though he was well aware that his presence would have been detected the moment he entered the docking bay, if not sooner.

Moving through the _Trickster_, he approached the pilot's station from behind, and stopped in the doorway.

For a long moment, he just stood there in silence, watching her fingers dance over knobby bumps and ridges along the coral console in front of her, the cognition hood pulled over her head.

She knew he was there, and he knew it, so he waited until her hands came to a halt.

"Teneniel Djo lives," he finally announced evenly.

Jaina reached up to tug the cognition hood away from her head, placing it down on the console in front of her.

"I know," she said, without turning around. "Nice work."

Silence again fell over the living ship, and Jaina resumed her preparations wordlessly, a clear dismissal.

Kyp wasn't going anywhere, though, so he remained in the doorway, gazing at her with narrowed eyes, his shoulders heavy and a strange sense of detachment spreading through him, the numbness that he'd felt ever since leaving the chambers of Teneniel Djo both lessening and growing at the same time.

It was an odd emotion, one he couldn't really define, but he knew it wasn't at all what he should be feeling right now.

He should have been horrified, afraid, at the very least disappointed, and yet he was none of those things, not really. It was impossible to say what he was at the moment, except deeply unsettled, and even then, he wasn't sure it was for the right reasons.

All Kyp knew was that there was no turning back now, not for him, and certainly not for Jaina.

"You killed Ta'a Chume," he accused emotionlessly.

After a moment of silence, Jaina turned calmly in her seat to face him. "Yes," she agreed without hesitation. "And your point is?"

The indifference she demonstrated should have been daunting.

He'd already known, of course, from the moment that Tenel Ka revealed her grandmother was dead, but to stand here and have Jaina not even attempt to deny it made it all the more real.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" he demanded softly.

And he didn't know if he was talking about the murder of Ta'a Chume, her slide to the dark side, what she'd begun to turn him into... he didn't even know if he was talking to her, or to himself.

For he was just as guilty as she was, even if he hadn't been the one to choke the life from the former queen's body. He had known what she would do when she left her room after giving him the order to find Tenel Ka and save Teneniel Djo from the assassins sent to poison her. 

He had known, and he had done nothing.

Something had compelled him not to go after her, not to stop her, and he couldn't identify exactly what it had been.

But it was most definitely an act of the dark side.

As a Jedi, he was sworn to protect and defend all life, even a life as vile and evil as Ta'a Chume's, and he had turned his back on that mandate.

"I'm perfectly aware of what I've done," Jaina replied calmly. "I ended the life of a murdering, traitorous old woman who would see her entire family dead if it suited her purposes. Who would have seen _my_ entire family dead if it meant getting her wish and having me on the throne. Not to mention you."

"Me?" Kyp echoed, startled.

"Yes, you," Jaina confirmed impatiently, arching an eyebrow. "Or did you think she would allow a lover to get in the way of her plans for me to wed Isolder?"

Kyp didn't have an answer for that.

In truth, he hadn't stopped to consider that Ta'a Chume might turn her assassins loose on him if she caught wind of his relationship with Jaina, but either way it didn't particularly worry him. He could have handled whatever the old woman threw at him, and he didn't like the insinuation that Jaina had her doubts about that.

But more than anything, he was intrigued by the unspoken implication in her words that, yes, Ta'a Chume would have had cause to worry- that he very well could have destroyed any hope she had of gaining Jaina as a daughter-in-law. 

It was good for a man's ego to know he ranked above a prince with an entire system to rule.

"Besides," Jaina scoffed, and the icy tone of her words was scathing. "It's not like I destroyed an entire planet- that's your handiwork, not mine." 

A low blow, one that stung, especially coming from her, but not as much as it once would have.

Another testament to just how far he'd wandered off of the path lately.

"This isn't about me," Kyp snapped. "You killed a member of the royal family, the Hapans aren't going to be happy about that." 

"Please," Jaina said in exasperation, rolling her eyes towards the coral ceiling of the living ship. "Ta'a Chume was a disgrace. She cared nothing for her people, only for herself and her own motivations. They're better off with her out of the way." 

"Be that as it may," Kyp retorted sharply. "It wasn't your call to make. Tenel Ka knows it was her grandmother who ordered the assassination of Teneniel Djo, Ta'a Chume would have gone to trial, and she would have been executed."

"No," Jaina sighed, shaking her head. "She wouldn't have. Tenel Ka doesn't understand what kind of connections Ta'a Chume really has. The majority of the Hapan court would have been glad to see her mother dead, they hate the Jedi and view Teneniel Djo as one of us, whether she's technically part of the Order or not."

It was true, as witch of Dathomir, Teneniel Djo had been a Force-user long before Han Solo ever kidnapped Princess Leia off to homeworld, leading Luke Skywalker there to discover Teneniel Djo's clan, and the darker, twisted wielders of the Force, the Nightsisters.

After marrying Isolder, Teneniel Djo had maintained a loose allegiance to Luke and the Jedi, but her first priority was Hapes.

"Ta'a Chume would have been found innocent, despite the fact that everyone knew she was guilty," Jaina informed him in disgust. "Because the Ni'Korish would have hailed her as a hero."

There was such weary, bitter conviction in her eyes, in her words, that Kyp was no longer as certain.

Hadn't he seen with his own eyes how manipulative, how cunning Ta'a Chume was? Surely she wouldn't have acted against Teneniel Djo unless she had a contingency plan for every possible twist and outcome?

_Again with the justifying her actions,_ a small, inner voice accused him. 

Despite the fact that he knew it was right, Kyp squashed it, refusing to be troubled further.

"Tenel Ka also knows who killed Ta'a Chume," he told her somberly.

That, at least, caused a flicker of something, perhaps a hint of uncertainty, to cross her face, but it was gone too quickly for him to identify it.

Still, it was somewhat reassuring to see that even a friendship as strained as the one she shared with Tenel Ka still meant something, regardless of how deeply the dark side had taken root in her heart.

"I don't think Hapes is going to be all that safe for us now," Kyp advised her.

"Us?" Jaina echoed.

Pointedly ignoring the sly inquiry, he glanced over at the luminescent panel on the far wall, which indicated that there were other Yuuzhan Vong vessels in the sector. "Then again, it doesn't look like you're safe here anyway," he observed evenly. "They came for you."

"I know," Jaina replied, shrugging without concern. "I told them if they wanted me, to come and get me. I guess Harrar finally decided to take that literally."

There was nothing but calm behind those words, nothing to explain the feeling of unease he suddenly tensed with.

Nothing, perhaps, but too much calm. 

"Whatever you're planning," he said sharply. "Forget it."

"Excuse me?" Jaina looked at him incredulously, something dangerous gleaming in her dark eyes. 

"I get the feeling you're about to throw your life away," Kyp informed her bitterly, his heart wrenching at the thought, the very concept of losing her enough to chill him to the very core of his being. "Sacrificing it the way that Anakin did."

There.

Mentioning Anakin had been a surefire way of getting some answers, even just a vague flash of one. 

But he'd seen the longing in her eyes at the mention of her little brother, the aching to be with him, and he knew then that was what this was all about.

Through the Force, she felt cold, empty.

Not the steely void that he had come to expect from her over the past month, not even the icy rage that she had shown during confrontations with the Yuuzhan Vong, or with him.

Instead, she felt desolate, barren, as if everything that made Jaina Solo who she was had been erased from existence.

And some part of him recognized that was precisely what had happened at Myrkr, when her brothers had been killed. He knew that feeling, knew it all too well, and yet he was angry with her for it. Grief, anger, vengeance... those were emotions he could understand.

But this emptiness... this sense of nothingness, of a black hole yawning wider and wider, threatening to swallow her whole, was frightening. There was no spark left in her, no will to survive.

Jaina wasn't just unconcerned about the repercussions of Ta'a Chume's death because she didn't care, although it was clear that she truly didn't give a kriff what anyone tried to do about it, she wasn't intending to be around for Tenel Ka or anyone else to even consider arresting her.

Because ever since Myrkr, she had been living a half-life, going through the motions and sinking deeper into despair and throbbing, pulsating loneliness.

She had only kept going for her mother's sake, for Leia who had lost two children already and couldn't endure losing another, and to make Jacen and Anakin's deaths count for something, to hurt the Yuuzhan Vong badly enough that they would rue the day they ever struck down a Solo.

And now, she no longer cared.

Now, she just wanted to die, to be with her brothers again, to be free of war and fighting and death. Free from emotion and pain and hurt... free from herself.

Jaina picked up the cognition hood again, turning back to the pilot's station and away from him. "Get out," she ordered flatly.

"Not until you tell me what you've got in mind," Kyp demanded harshly.

In a fluid blur so fast he barely saw it, Jaina rose from her chair and thrust her hand out in his direction. Dark energy pooled at her fingertips, and before he could blink, Force lightning crackled from her fingers and surrounded him in a shining nimbus, hurling him back into the coral hull hard enough to jar every last bone in his body.

His entire body was on fire, every fiber of his being searing with excruciating pain.

It felt as if every cell in his body was being fried, as if he was being subjected to the stabs of a thousand tiny lightsabers, all piercing him in the most vulnerable places. Pain exploded at every nerve ending, white-hot and blazing, and his body convulsed against its will.

Grunting, he narrowed his eyes, reached out for the dark energy tearing through him, and twisted.

The deadly aura of Force lightning around him disappeared, dying out, and Jaina took a step back in surprise, clearly not having expected that.

Being able to catch her off-guard gave him a rather twisted sense of pride.

"If I can summon it," Kyp said coolly, rising to his feet, with a low hiss of pain and a slight grimace. "I can dispel it. You're not the only one who can walk this path."

Before he could take even a single step, Jaina's lightsaber leapt off of her belt, the silver pommel landing in her hand.

Kyp didn't bother to reach for his own weapon yet, he knew she wasn't going to attack him. She was angry, yes, and full of furious frustration, but there was no desire to kill him.

Although she probably wouldn't mind maiming him a little.

"Outside," she snarled.

Giving her a mocking, dramatic bow, Kyp gestured for her to go first.

That Skywalker stubbornness was rearing its head now, though, and she lifted her chin in defiance, refusing to give him even that satisfaction at the moment.

Resisting the urge to smirk, Kyp shrugged and made his way back to the portal door, then walked down the ramp, with Jaina at his heels.

The moment his feet touched the dock, though, he knew he'd made a terrible mistake.

Even as he stiffened, Jaina was leaping into the air with a backflip, and landing in the coral doorway of the Yuuzhan Vong frigate, a triumphant and wicked smirk on her lips. Then she took a small step back and touched her palm against the wall just out of sight.

And the portal door slammed shut after her. 

"Stang," Kyp muttered as he watched the living ship rise swiftly into the air, even as the docking bay opened for her to depart. "I can't believe I fell for that."

Turning on his heel, he ran the entire way to the hangar where Vanguard Squadron was keeping their fighters, only to find his pilots already suited up and waiting. Only then did it occur to him that, as Vanguard Leader, he should have come straight here rather than going to Jaina.

"There you are," Gye cried, pulling his helmet on over his head. "Where have you been?"

"Busy," Kyp said shortly, and luckily for the kid he was in a hurry or he would have taught him to show his superiors a little more respect, but maybe Vanguard Two could do the job himself. "Halix, the squadron's in your hands now."

Startled, Halix nearly dropped his helmet. "What about you?"

"I've got something else to deal with," Kyp replied grimly, heading towards his X-wing.

If Halix or any of the other pilots had a problem with that, they didn't say anything, and after a few seconds of hesitation, Halix was barking out orders. By the time that Kyp had swung himself up into his own cockpit, the rest of his pilots were already taking off.

_Good luck,_ he thought after them. _May the Force be with you._

Because he couldn't be. 

Whether she wanted to live or not, he was going to make sure Jaina got out of this mess in one piece, even if he had to drag her kicking and screaming from Hapes to do it.

After everything she'd put him through, after the depths she'd pulled him down to, she wasn't going to check out now.

And he was going to do whatever it took to save the woman he...

His hands froze over the controls on the display as that sunk in.

The woman he loved.

A bitter chuckle escaped his lips as he tugged his helmet down on his head hard, and Kyp slammed down the thrusters, unable to deny the irony of it all.

He had told himself he wouldn't fall in love with Jaina Solo, that he couldn't, because it would only lead to trouble, and yet despite his every effort to keep her at a distance, he'd gone and fallen for her just the same.

It was a mistake, a terrible mistake which would cost him much more than his life.

And he reveled in it.


	28. Chapter 28

It was a strange sort of relationship, really.

Since her escape from the worldship over Myrkr a month earlier, Jaina Solo had come to know the living ship she'd stolen from Nom Anor inside and out, and, though she was hesitant to admit it, the ship had come to know her just as intimately.

The living ship was, like all Yuuzhan Vong technology, closed off to her through the Force, but she'd found that she didn't need the Force to understand the frigate, to communicate with it and attune it to herself.

On her hands, the pilot's gloves felt familiar and comfortable, their umbilical cords remaining untangled no matter how wild and chaotic a spin she threw the frigate into. The cognition hood over her head was cool and dark, but that, too, was almost solacing now.

Working on the _Trickster_ had allowed her to form a bond with the living ship, although she couldn't really explain what kind of bond it was, since it had nothing to do with the Force.

The irony of it all, though, that she would come to rely on an enemy ship, did not escape her notice.

_Oh, well,_ she thought wryly. _It will only confuse the Vong even more._

And confusing the enemy made it all the more easy to pick them off, one by one.

With a smooth jerk of her wrists, she put the living ship into a spin to avoid plasma fire raining down on her from the swarm of coralskippers converging upon the _Trickster_.

Urging the frigate to accelerate through her cognition hood, Jaina shot past her attackers in a blaze, dodging plasma even as she brought the ship around in a twirling spiral to bring her own weapons into position to strike at the coralskippers from behind.

Impressions flooded her mind from the living ship, information from the priestship's yammosk filtering into her thoughts like running water, merging with her own Force perceptions to allow her to maneuver through the enemy fleet with graceful ease, like a Twi'lek dancing girl moving through a crowd. It made her an invincible opponent for the Yuuzhan Vong ships, and it enabled her to escape seemingly impossible situations, which could only further the rumors about her divinity among the Yuuzhan Vong.

_Got you, _Jaina thought with a grim smirk, squeezing her left hand into a fist inside of the glove, releasing a burst of plasma at the last of the coralskippers charging her, right as the Vong pilot was between firing shots.

It exploded into a glowing storm of debris.

Sensing a momentary lull in the fighting, at least around her, as the Hapan pilots did their best to drive the Yuuzhan Vong back, Jaina yanked off her cognition hood, placing it down on the rocky console in front of her so that the ship could still alert her to any incoming threats that she might miss, and slipped off the pilot's gloves.

Twisting in the oversized chair, built with a towering Yuuzhan Vong warrior in mind, she turned to the side console, where two villips were waiting.

Lifting the one that she had slowly, and painstakingly, attuned to herself, she stroked it to life.

After a moment of shifting, the scarred face of Warmaster Tsavong Lah appeared, and she had the pleasure of seeing him recoil in horror at the face his own villip was displaying back at him.

This was the Yuuzhan Vong who had nearly bled her mother to death on Duro, who had put out a bounty on Jacen's head, who decried that she would fight her twin brother to the death in a sacrifice, who had deemed the rest of the strike team, including Anakin, expendable as long as the Solo twins were captured alive.

"Greetings, Warmaster," she said with a mocking smirk. "Remember me? Jacen Solo's twin sister?" 

"You will be sacrificed to the gods," Tsavong Lah snarled, the vein on his neck pulsating with fury. "And then I will tear out your heart with my own hands."

"If you still have your own hands, you're probably not as far up on the ladder as you wanted us to think," Jaina sneered. "Put someone else on the line- someone with real authority and a few more replacement parts."

Even without the ability to sense him in the Force, Jaina could practically feel the unbridled rage rolling off of the warmaster as he growled at her, the hatred showing in his black, fathomless eyes.

"With those words, you have earned yourself much pain," he seethed, trembling with infuriation.

"I take it the Vong don't get promoted for their conversation skills," Jaina retorted. "Let's see if the priest's commander can do better, shall we?"

Ignoring Tsavong Lah's outrage, she awakened the second villip, which formed a link between her ship and the priest's villip.

Another gnarled Yuuzhan Vong face came into view, one which bore a strong resemblance to that of the warmaster, and she filed that observation away in her mind, knowing it was important. For now, though, she had other methods of getting to Tsavong Lah.

With her hand, she brushed back the veil of dark hair that hung around her face, to reveal the mark she had drawn on her forehead after taking to the air.

The symbol of Yun-Harla.

Both Tsavong Lah and the priest's commander, who she had a sneaky suspicion was the warmaster's son, howled in outrage.

"I will bring you in, human," the younger warrior said, snarling. "This I swear, by all the gods, by my domain and my sacred honor." 

"You're more than welcome to try," Jaina replied with a mocking laugh. "I look forward to wiping your blood from my boots, Khalee Lah."

It was amusing to see both father and son start at her use of his name, and she knew in that moment that she had correctly identified the young warrior leading the priest's fleet. The Hapan pirate Crimpler had been useful for more than just his slave seed, probing his mind had also given him some interesting information that only a traitor allying himself with the enemy could know.

Like the fact that Tsavong Lah had a son who was currently accompanying Harrar on this 'holy quest' to achieve her capture and sacrifice.

Before either Yuuzhan Vong warrior could respond, she passed her hand over both villips, and they introverted at once, collapsing in on themselves and taking the outraged faces with them. She didn't need the Force to know that Khalee Lah would be coming for her himself, even a Force-blind idiot would have been able to figure that out, so she vowed to keep an eye out for the warmaster's son during the coming battle.

And when she found him, she'd see how Tsavong Lah liked it when she started killing off his family the way he'd done to hers.

The hair on the back of her neck bristled, and the Force whispered a warning just before the living ship's console began to alert her to incoming skips. Placing the cognition hood back onto her head, Jaina shoved her hands into the pilot's gloves again, and allowed the _Trickster _to bring her up to speed on the location and speed of the enemy ships approaching.

At least three squadrons, by the look of it, and all of them determined to bring her in one way or another.

_Is this the best you can do? _she challenged silently, with a mirthless chuckle. _Bring it on._

Taking a slow, deep breath, Jaina allowed herself to find the dark, churning power within her, and she gave herself over to it completely, allowing it to submerse her in its cold, black waters.

The living ship became a part of her now, its consciousness seeping into her own as they turned, dove, rolled away from incoming plasma fire, returning shots of their own with deadly accuracy. Every coralskipper that dared to approach was blasted into dust, if not by the first shots, then by the ones that followed a split second after, the ones meant to strike when the dovin basal was distracted.

Throwing the Trickster into a kamikaze dive, Jaina pulled up suddenly and violently, causing the three skips on her tail to shoot past, unable to stop.

Three quick clenches of her fist inside of the pilot's gloves, and they were dust.

As she looped the living ship around her pursuers, Jaina's senses tingled, and once the two following her were blasted apart, she let the Force turn her attention in the direction it was trying to point her in.

A Yuuzhan Vong fighter streamed towards her, and all other enemy ships parted to let it pass.

The warmaster's son, she realized with a slow, cold smirk, had finally arrived.

Khalee Lah's plasma cannons opened fire as soon as he was within range, and Jaina threw the _Trickster_ out of the way and into a barrel roll, all while returning fire. Khalee Lah was a better pilot than most of the Vong she'd encountered so far at Hapes, but she supposed that was to be expected considering his father was Tsavong Lah.

Still, warmaster's son or not, he'd end up like all the others- nothing but dust and ash.

For what seemed like hours, she and her challenger darted and spun about each other, trading bolts of plasma, dodging and blocking like swordmasters.

Jaina did not think, she merely gave herself over to the Force, to the cold storm within her, and let it guide her actions.

And for a while, that was enough.

But her identification with the living ship was too powerful, and when a plasma bolt slipped past the dovin basal, scorching the underside of the ship, an unexpected and searing burst of pain raced up Jaina's arm from the pilot's glove.

She recoiled instinctively, gritting her teeth against a scream of agony, but didn't pull her hand free of the glove.

Even without looking, she knew there was no physical damage to her arm.

Still, it had hurt like hell.

And that pain only fueled her fury. 

Falling deeper into the darkness surrounding her, the darkness inside of her, she let the battle raging in space fade away from her perceptions. Instead, she turned inward, seeing it in her mind's eye, and Khalee Lah stood before her with a grotesque snarl, amphistaff in hand.

Cocking her lightsaber into a strike position, Jaina attacked.

Her violet blade flashed towards Khalee Lah, and the warrior had to dodge the attack, along with the one immediately after it, before he was able to block the third strike.

Their weapons clashed several more times, before Jaina retreated a few steps, inviting a lunge from her opponent. 

With her lightsaber, she swept his amphistaff out into a wide arch, then cut her blade in again hard, aiming for his chestplate, and he had to jump back to avoid being struck down with one swipe. 

And so it continued, the two of them circling each other in a furious dance of death, striking again and again.

Some distant part of her knew this was not how the fight was really unfolding, they were not two enemies locked in ground combat, lightsaber against amphistaff, rather trapped in a dogfight between two living ships, but she did not dwell on that distinction. 

Instead, she spun and parried, cut and blocked.

Khalee Lah brought his amphistaff up fast, trying to catch her off guard, but the Force, along with the cold hatred churning within her, was guiding her actions faster than she could think, and she parried his strike easily, unleashing a flurry of precise strikes that drove him back a few meters.

After a few moments, he got his bearings back, though, and lunged at her with a growl, his quick, savage blur of thrusts pushing her back as she felt a distant tingle on the edge of her perceptions. Sensing an obstacle, one visualized as a wall, rushing up behind her, Jaina sprung off the ground and vaulted into a tight flip over his head, landing behind him lightly.

She swung her lightsaber at his head, but he twisted fast enough for his amphistaff to catch her blade a centimeter from his face. Their weapons shoved against each other, both searching for an opening, a vulnerable moment, and neither willing to give.

It was a battle of will, and Khalee Lah was going to lose.

He thrust forward, aiming a deadly strike at her torso, and she blocked it by flipping her blade down hard.

Twisting her wrists sharply to force him to disengage and come back at her from a better angle, Jaina ticked her lightsaber from side to side in a wild web of slashes that drove the warmaster's son back until he had to disengage and come around for another attack.

Khalee Lah snarled and lunged forth with a wild charge, hacking his amphistaff at her with blind, frenzied rage.

It was more than personal for him, she decided grimly as she blocked a vicious strike.

This was a zealot, a religious fanatic.

And that made him even more dangerous than the rest of his kind.

He came at her furiously now, swinging wildly at her head, and she brought her blade up to block his strike, shoved hard, and sent him reeling back unsteadily. 

Jaina moved in for the kill, but suddenly the distant tingle in the Force flared sharply, drawing her attention, and she suffered a moment of distraction as a formidably sized Hapan fleet emerged from hyperspace.

A distraction that was almost fatal. 

Khalee Lah lunged for her, amphistaff striking out, and she moved to dodge the attack, but not fast enough.

At the last possible moment, a white-purple blade, as fiery as the presence wielding it, intersected the amphistaff, driving Khalee Lah back with a hot fury that nearly exceeded her own.

Taking advantage of the momentary break, Jaina drew on the Force to bolster her strength, mending the fried nerve endings in her hand, and watched as Kyp Durron struck out at the Yuuzhan Vong warrior, again and again, each thrust of his weapon growing more and more aggressive.

And the dark side grew more and more prominent within him.

Despite it all, a slow, satisfied smirk tugged its way onto Jaina's lips, knowing another crucial move on the dejarik board had just been made. 

Victory was within her grasp now, in more ways than one. 

For a moment, she allowed her senses to quiet, and the battle around her came back into view, her fist inside the pilot's glove firing her plasma cannons at Khalee Lah's coralskipper, while Kyp's X-wing wove his way around the plasma bolts, his lasers emptying themselves at the enemy fighter with cold, steely precision.

And then she turned inward again, darting in to strike out at Khalee Lah even as the warrior shoved his amphistaff against Kyp's blade, sending the Jedi Master stumbling back, and whirled in time to block her slash.

Jaina pressed forward, matching the warmaster's son strike for strike, their weapons clashing furiously.

When Kyp rejoined the fray a second later, the two of them fell into a rhythmic beat, blades twirling deftly as they converged upon their enemy. Every time Jaina drew back, Kyp would lunge forward, and vice-versa, the bond between them in the Force allowing them to anticipate each other's every move to the point where it felt like they were simply rehearsing a set of dance steps they'd been practicing all their lives.

_Look out, _Kyp sent, without words.

The impression of danger, and concern, was enough to warn her to roll under the surprise swing of Khalee Lah's amphistaff, and she pushed to her feet as Kyp's attack kept the warrior at bay.

_Thanks, lover,_ Jaina sent back with a breathless laugh of exhilaration, and jumped back into the fight. 

For an impressive few moments, Khalee Lah was actually able to fend them both off at once, his amphistaff moving with a furious speed that could only be fueled by his obsession.

But even the son of Tsavong Lah was no match for the two of them.

Once Khalee Lah realized that, and she saw the flicker of dread in his black eyes when it happened, his thrusts became even more wild and crazed. Before, he had been trying to take her alive, to bring her to his father for a twin sacrifice that was pointless now that Jacen was dead, but now he was growing desperate.

Still, his fanatical beliefs called for him to ensure she was handed over to Tsavong Lah alive.

And so he lashed out, intent on striking a killing blow, not at her, but at Kyp.

A sudden burst of fury flooded through Jaina, and she lunged at him from behind, forcing him to abandon his attack on Kyp, lest he lose his own life in the process. 

Jaina drove Khalee Lah back with a murderous fury, the dark storm within her raging, begging to be unleashed, to be allowed to explode and ravage everything in its path. The Yuuzhan Vong had taken everything from her... her friends, her home, her brothers... she would make them pay.

And she would not stop, not until every last one of them was dead at her feet.

Starting with Khalee Lah.

With a shriek of rage that she was certain was uttered aloud beneath the cognition hood over her head, Jaina let loose the dark hatred burning in her veins, let it consume her entire being. 

Khalee Lah stumbled, trying to regain his footing, but she didn't give him the chance.

Taking advantage of his falter, she feinted left, then cut back hard right, and her violet blade cut through the warrior's shoulder, carving downward at an angle to his hipbone.

Jaina was jolted back to reality as Khalee Lah's final plasma bolt grazed her living ship, sending a small surge of pain searing through her hand, and she watched with a cold smile beneath her cognition hood as the warmaster's son went out in a blaze, his coralskipper exploding in flames after the killing shot from her own plasma cannons.

_Don't worry, Tsavong Lah,_ she thought with a sneer. _You'll be joining your son soon enough._

That was a promise she would see to no matter what, even if it was with her dying breath. The warmaster would pay for all the suffering he'd caused, and he would pay with blood.

A cool, grim presence touched her own, and she was aware of Kyp's X-wing gliding into place along the Trickster's port side as the Jedi Master gave her a brush that was something along the lines of "nice work" before reminding her that the battle was not over.

_I know,_ Jaina replied through their rapport, a cold smirk gracing her lips as the living ship informed her of a swarm of approaching coralskippers. The enemy had backed off to allow Khalee Lah to attempt to capture her, but now that he was dead, they were converging on her full-force again. _Let's go._

Together, they would drive a spike straight through the heart of the Yuuzhan Vong fleet.


	29. Chapter 29

Hours after the retreat of the shattered Yuuzhan Vong fleet, the capitol city of Hapes was still alive with celebration.

The festivities were even more dramatic than those of the previous celebration, and while the same band seemed to be playing again, the city square was more crowded than it had been before, if that was possible. Dazzling displays of vivid lightstreamers lit up the dark canvas of the night sky, eliciting cheers from the crowd below. 

Everyone on Hapes, it seemed, was partying tonight.

Or almost everyone, anyway.

Entering the docking bay with a stack of heavy rations crates in hand, Kyp Durron sent out a short mental query towards the Yuuzhan Vong frigate ahead, and got a wordless direction in response.

Following it, he made his way around to the other side of the living ship and found his companion busy stacking up boxes of supplies herself, but her supplies were of an entirely different nature. Among the ammunition scattered around her, he immediately identified flechette mines, thermal detonators and enough explosives to bring down at least a dozen Hapan palaces. 

_I see Mara rubbed off on her, after all, _Kyp thought wryly, setting the crates down on the floor.

"I heard that," Jaina said, without looking up from what she was doing, which was storing extra energy packs in with the blaster rifles she'd managed to scrounge up somewhere.

"I know," Kyp replied with a smirk. "Think you've got enough artillery there, Goddess?"

"Ask the Vong once we get through with them," she retorted, flashing a feral smirk of her own in return. "Did you manage to find rations?"

"Yeah," he confirmed, leaning against the coral hull of the living ship. "Enough for a few months, at the least."

"Good," Jaina said, nodding in approval. "Nice work."

A sly smile tugged its way onto Kyp's lips. "I think I deserve a reward for my 'nice work'," he drawled. "Don't you?" 

Chuckling softly, Jaina straightened and sauntered over to him. "That can be arranged," she murmured, rising onto her toes and lifting her chin to bring their lips together in a long, searing kiss.

When she began to pull away after a few heartbeats, Kyp held her to him, wrapping his arms around her waist, and she sighed, giving in and letting her own arms snake around his neck. Kyp turned them around without breaking the kiss, putting her back against the living ship instead, and she moaned softly against his lips, threading her fingers through his hair.

For the longest time, he lost himself in her kisses, in the soft curves pressed against him and the soaring rapport between them in the Force, and nothing else existed but the two of them.

When they finally came up for air, Kyp was pleased to note that she looked disheveled and out of breath, and he felt a surge of smug satisfaction as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Got carried away," he chuckled softly.

"Mmm," Jaina agreed with a small smile. "That we did."

It would have been nice to get carried away even further, but there were supplies waiting to be loaded into the coral cargo hold of the _Trickster_, and Kyp was uneasy putting it off any longer.

Not when there was no telling how much time they had.

"You worry too much," Jaina chided.

"One of us has to," Kyp shot back. "You don't worry at all."

"That's because I have you to protect me," Jaina retorted with a dazzling smile, dark eyes full of teasing affection as she turned away to return her attention to their supplies.

Pressing his lips together in a thin line, Kyp gazed after her for a moment, contemplating her words. She'd meant them lightly, but there had been genuine faith underlining them, faith in him and his devotion to her. And he was certainly devoted, there was no mistaking that, he'd turned his back on everything that he held dear, on Master Skywalker's teachings, on the Jedi that he had fought so hard to become... all of it for her.

There was no point in trying to deny the path he'd taken, in ignoring the severity of the choices he had made.

For Jaina, he'd as good as sold his soul to the dark side.

_I hope you know what you're doing, kid,_ an inner voice, which sounded startlingly like Han Solo, told him quietly, a distant, half-heard echo of things he could not bring himself to face.

Banishing the voice, along with the doubts still lingering deep in the corners of his heart, Kyp allowed himself a sigh.

_So do I, _he thought grimly.

A soft curse filled the air, and he tensed, taking a worried step in Jaina's direction before she lifted her head, scowling, as she massaged her right hand.

"Are you okay?" Kyp asked anxiously. 

Jaina looked up at him ruefully. "I was distracted," she admitted, scrunching her nose in distaste. "My finger paid the price. I'll be fine, though, it's just a bruise."

"Try to pay closer attention," Kyp advised wryly.

"Gee, I never thought of that," Jaina muttered, giving him a less than pleasant look.

"What had you so distracted anyway?" Kyp asked, crossing the space between them and crouching down, taking her injured hand in his to inspect it. Just as she'd claimed, it was only a slight bruise, but he rubbed the side of her hand with his thumb just the same, the warmth of her skin beneath his fingers intoxicating.

"If you must know," she sighed. "You."

Startled, Kyp blinked at her for a moment before giving her a smug smile. "Me, huh?"

"Your ego is infuriating," Jaina informed him.

"So is your temper," Kyp shot back without missing a beat. "What's so distracting about me, Goddess? Other than my dashing good looks, that is?"

Jaina snorted, yanking her hand out of his grasp. "You're impossible, Durron."

"Master Durron," Kyp corrected her.

That earned him a rather dark glare from his 'apprentice', and despite himself, he smiled. Force, he loved this woman, faults and all. There was no force in the galaxy that could rival her spirit, her fierce will, and even when it was directed at him, he admired her for her stubbornness.

It didn't hurt that she was, quite simply, the most beautiful sight he'd ever been blessed enough to look upon.

Sunsets on tropical worlds had nothing on Jaina Solo.

"You're broadcasting," Jaina said in amusement, lifting the lid for one of the boxes off of the floor.

"That's all right," Kyp replied without hesitation. "It's not a secret."

Jaina paused for a moment, then secured the lid, sealing it tight, before turning back to face him again. "I think we're going to need to work on our shielding," she informed him flatly. "That's what distracted me a few minutes ago. Even with my shields up, your emotions were still flooding over me."

"Oh?" Kyp's brows furrowed in thought, and now that she'd mentioned it, he had noticed that it was getting more and more difficult to differentiate between her emotions and thoughts, and his own. He'd brushed it aside until now, though, but she had a very good point, such a strong bond between them might prove dangerous if it were to distract one of them like it had while Jaina was simply packing boxes.

Even if it did make other, more pleasurable activities all the more enjoyable.

A rations pack hit him the chest, courtesy of the Force, and Jaina rolled her eyes, trying not to smile. "You are such a nerf-herder," she accused halfheartedly, having picked up on his thoughts.

Kyp flashed her a leering smile in return, depositing the rations pack in with the others. "I don't hear you complaining, sweetheart," he drawled. "In fact, I predict within an hour of jumping to hyperspace, you'll be signing a different tune entirely." 

Once, such suggestive words would have caused Jaina to blush, or at the very least bristle in the Force, but now she just batted her eyelashes and smirked. "You keep telling yourself that, _Master_."

_I don't need to,_ Kyp thought smugly. _You tell me with your eyes every time you look at me, Goddess._

Yes, this Force bond of theirs definitely had its benefits.

"Give me a hand with this, will you?" Jaina requested, gesturing to the rest of the supplies scattered about on the floor of the hangar, waiting to be packed up in durasteel boxes. "You're the one who was so adamant that we get out of here as soon as possible, after all."

"Your wish is my command, Great One," Kyp assured her, only half-sarcastic, and she shoved a box in his direction.

They fell into a steady rhythm, working together in comfortable silence that wasn't really silence at all. Jaina's familiar presence hummed beside him, and inside of him, in his heart and soul, in the very core of his being, and he knew that it was the same for her.

For two people who had, until recently, been more alone than anyone could know, it was a strange and wonderful sensation.

About ten minutes later, a tingle went up Kyp's spine, warning of another presence fast approaching, and he nudged Jaina with the Force, drawing her attention towards the docking bay doors just moments before they slid open to reveal that they had a visitor.

Tenel Ka stepped into the room, gray eyes sweeping across the hangar until coming to rest on them.

Instinctively, Kyp's hand slid to the hilt of his lightsaber, and every muscle in his body tensed, anticipating a swarm of guards to flood the docking bay after the Hapan princess in order to attempt to arrest Jaina for the murder of Ta'a Chume.

And he used the word attempt, because they would not succeed.

He would kill anyone who came near her.

But Tenel Ka was, surprisingly enough, alone, and though her rancor-toothed lightsaber was hanging at her hip, as always, she did not appear to take any notice of it. As she looked at Jaina with dull, somber gray eyes, the silence about her heavy and grave, there was no malice or anger within the Hapan princess.

Just a profound sense of sadness.

Some of the tension eased from Kyp's shoulders, and he let his hand fall from the hilt of his lightsaber, but he kept a close eye on Tenel Ka just the same. 

Beside him, Jaina slowly rose from her crouched position among the supplies, and he sensed a flicker of wariness behind the calm expression on her face. Despite everything that had happened between them, despite all of the arguments and the accusations and the deception and betrayal, Tenel Ka was still one of her best friends, and Kyp knew that Jaina had no desire for there to be even more bitterness between the two women.

To his relief, Tenel Ka seemed to feel the same way.

"You are not joining Master Skywalker at Borleias?" she asked, her eyes taking in the weaponry ready to be loaded into the _Trickster_'s cargo hold. 

"No," Jaina replied evenly. "It's not the right place for us right now."

An understatement, to be sure.

Neither of them wanted to consider how Master Skywalker and the rest of Jaina's family were going to react once word of their escapades on Hapes reached their ears, but Kyp was certain it would not pretty.

Tenel Ka merely nodded, as if she knew this. 

"Have you bade farewell to Lowbacca yet?" she questioned, and the smoothness with which she danced around the dangerous topic of her grandmother's death worried Kyp that the princess was up to something. "Or were you going to slip away with saying good-bye?"

Through their bond, Kyp sensed a faint flicker of guilt behind Jaina's emotionless mask.

"I thought it best if I left quietly," she explained flatly. "For everyone."

"Ah, aha," Tenel Ka murmured. "Lowbacca is a loyal friend, he would feel obligated to accompany you."

"Fact," Jaina said lightly, and for a moment, the galaxy shifted before Kyp's eyes as the two women shared a decidedly softer look. It shifted back before he could fully take in the moment, though, and old friends became estranged, distrustful acquaintances once more. "It's for the best if he doesn't know I'm leaving until I'm already gone."

"I will tell him for you, if you like," Tenel Ka offered, silently agreeing.

"Thank you," Jaina replied somberly. "He should be able to get to Borleias without any trouble on his own." 

"I will loan him the _Rock Dragon_ if necessary," Tenel Ka said with assurance, and Kyp caught a distant flicker of bittersweet nostalgia from both women, thinking of days long past where they traversed the galaxy with their friends aboard Tenel Ka's ship, with Jaina and Lowbacca at the controls. "I only wish I could join him."

"You're staying to act as your mother's regent," Jaina concluded, an observation rather than a question.

Tenel Ka nodded curtly, her emotions on the subject carefully guarded behind her steely shields. "Until her health returns, it is my duty to rule in her stead."

"I'm sure you'll make a wonderful stand-in queen," Jaina told her, without sarcasm or doubt, only sincere belief in her old friend's capabilities. "Your mother would be proud of you."

"I wish I could say the same in return," Tenel Ka said quietly, but with a steady gaze that seemed to bore into Jaina like a lightsaber through durasteel.

That made Kyp bristle, and his fingers inched towards his lightsaber instinctively, but Jaina waved him off through the Force, not so much as blinking at the Hapan princess' words. "I doubt she would be," she agreed flatly, and Kyp kept his silence at her request, taking a small step back to allow for a more unobtrusive vantage point, but staying close enough that he could react if Tenel Ka tired anything.

"Where will you go?" Tenel Ka inquired, smoothly changing the subject away from such a potentially unstable direction. "Flying an enemy ship, you will not find it easy to secure safe passage anywhere within free territory."

There was sincere curiosity and concern behind her carefully spoken words, and despite the fact that he remained tense and on edge, Kyp was now certain that Tenel Ka did not mean Jaina any ill will. Her grandmother's death was not far from her thoughts, but she did not mourn for the former queen, instead she mourned for Jaina, for what dispatching 'justice' had cost her friend.

And, to his bewilderment, she mourned for him, as well, although for what reason he did not know.

Cool gray eyes flickered in his direction for a fleeting moment, something sad and almost pitying in her gaze, and then Tenel Ka focused on Jaina once more as she answered the question.

"We'll find a ship somewhere," Jaina responded, with a casual shrug of her slender shoulders. "One with a lot of speed, heavily armed and sporting a hold big enough to fit both the _Trickster_ and Kyp's X-wing."

"I see."

Tenel Ka fell silent for a long moment, and though her gaze remained trained on Jaina, it was clear that her mind was somewhere else, somewhere internal, contemplating something, although what that something was, it was impossible to know.

Glancing at Jaina, Kyp gave her the mental equivalent of a raised eyebrow, and she gave him a mental shrug in return, just as clueless about what was going through Tenel Ka's head as he was.

Finally, the Hapan princess seemed to settle something within herself, and her eyes became focused once more.

"In the docking bay adjacent to this one," she said quietly. "You will find a Hapan passenger cruiser, very similar in design to the _Rock Dragon_, but with a hold designed to carry several large fighters at once. I suspect that it is sufficiently large enough for both an X-wing and your captured frigate to be docked inside."

Taken aback by her offer, Kyp looked to Jaina, who stared at her old friend in appraising silence, eyes narrowed, and he could sense the surprise that she didn't show in her neutral expression.

"Why?" Jaina demanded evenly.

There was no need to clarify that question further.

"I do not agree with the path you have chosen," Tenel Ka said quietly, after a moment's pause. "If I could, I would pull you back from it, by any means necessary, but I know that I do not possess the ability to do so. And yet, I cannot let myself stand by and watch you leave upon an enemy ship, a ship which, if our side does not mistakenly attack it, can lead the Yuuzhan Vong directly to you."

"My gravitic repulsors will keep the _Trickster_ safe," Jaina argued calmly.

"For now, yes," Tenel Ka agreed somberly. "But the Yuuzhan Vong shapers will bypass your device in time."

The two women stared at each other in silence for a long moment, and Kyp could feel Jaina reaching out with a whisper of the Force, probing at the edges of Tenel Ka's mind, trying to seek more truth than what the Hapan princess was giving them.

"It is what Jacen would want," Tenel Ka murmured lowering her eyes as grief twisted in her chest. 

"Thank you," Jaina said at last.

Tenel Ka nodded in acknowledgment. "Our paths will not cross again for some time," she replied quietly, a profound sense of sadness seeping off of her in the Force. "But know that my heart still goes with you."

It was clear to Kyp that she wanted to say more, that there was so much weighing on the tip of her tongue, and once she might have been able to say those things, once Jaina might have heard them, but the chasm between them was too great and too wide now.

Many things had changed since their days at the Academy.

Wordlessly, Tenel Ka turned on her heel and swept towards the doors of the docking bay, shoulders back and stride crisp, the only falter one within her spirit as she slapped the touchpad and the doors slid open.

"Tenel Ka," Jaina called, and her friend paused in the doorway, but did not look back. "May the Force be with you."

"And with you, friend Jaina," Tenel Ka's whisper drifted back into the room. "I fear you will need it."

For a long moment after she departed, Kyp regarded Jaina in silence, baffled by the strange mixture of emotions he was getting from her across their Force bond. Bittersweet relief, a lessening of anxiety, stirrings of sadness and regret, tinged with the ever-present undercurrent of cold emptiness that had enveloped her once luminous presence in the Force as of late.

And, interestingly enough, a touch of wry amusement. 

"Finish loading these supplies," Jaina said finally, starting for the doors.

"Where are you going?" Kyp inquired with a frown.

"To get rid of the tracking devices she planted on the Hapan ship."


	30. Chapter 30

The stars exploded into a streak of white as they entered hyperspace. 

Checking the display console of the Hapan ship, Jaina Solo made sure that everything was in order before rising from the comfortable pilot's chair.

Her boots were silent as she made her way back through the ship, which she had combed over in great detail before their departure from Hapes, and she had to admit that it was a beautiful ship. Fast, sleek, dangerous and made for tight maneuvers in tight situations, it was her kind of ship.

Tenel Ka had known that, of course.

For that, she supposed she could overlook the fact that her old friend had attempted to put trackers on her.

In truth, she wasn't offended or angered by that, she would have been disappointed in Tenel Ka if the other woman hadn't tried something along those lines.

_You have a sneaky streak in you, after all, old friend,_ Jaina mused with a chuckle.

She had a feeling that Tenel Ka was going to need it in her new role as Teneniel Djo's regent.

The Hapan court was notoriously corrupt and full of deceit, so the Hapan princess was going to have her hands full trying to keep things in order until her mother's health returned enough for the queen mother to reclaim the throne. If it had been any other member of the royal family, there might have been trouble when Teneniel Djo did recover, but Tenel Ka had never wanted to be queen, and taking on that role, even temporarily, was a burden for her.

For her sake, Jaina hoped that Teneniel Djo's recovery was swift.

Approaching the door to the main cabin, Jaina pressed her hand against the touchpad, and once the door slid open silently, she slipped inside.

The cruiser had several cabins, enough to easily sleep a dozen passengers, but they had taken the captain's cabin, as their own, for obvious reasons. It was the largest, with a spacious refresher unit complete with a sunken Hapan tub, and the quarters had been outfitted with sleek Hapan finery, while still maintaining a practical decor for a starship instead of a palace.

It was, as Kyp had commented upon first stepping foot into the room, fit for a goddess. 

The Jedi Master was stretched out across the luxurious bed, eyes closed and pulse lowered as he regulated his breathing during meditation.

Jaina paused in the doorway for a moment, letting her gaze trace over his lean, wiry form appreciatively, taking in the peaceful expression on his handsome face as his mind drifted in the currents of the Force. Like her, Kyp was anything but serene, and meditation had never been a strong point for either of them, at least not the typical meditation that was taught at the Academy back on Yavin Four.

While Jacen had always been able to sit perfectly still and silently meditate for hours, Jaina found that moving meditation worked best for her, like it had for their little brother Anakin. Whether it was tinkering with a ship or taking apart a droid remote, her mind freed itself the easiest when her hands were busy. 

"Are you just going to stand there and watch me meditate all day?"

Despite herself, Jaina grinned as she started towards the bed, where Kyp had neither moved nor opened his eyes even after asking his question. "I'm sure I can find something better to occupy my time," she informed him wryly, sitting down on the edge of the bed and leaning back on her elbows to fix him with a suggestive smile, knowing he would sense it even if he couldn't see it. "Any ideas?"

A low chuckle rumbled from his chest. "I might have one or two," he murmured.

"Just one or two?" Jaina challenged, leaning closer.

"I'm sure you could manage to give me some inspiration," Kyp responded smoothly, the corners of his mouth lifting.

"Possibly," Jaina agreed, tilting her head down towards his so that her warm breath spilled across his lips and a small shudder passed through his body. Smirking, she flopped down onto her back next to him. "Maybe later."

Kyp groaned silently, and his wry frustration, mixed with equal parts amusement, filled her senses, turning her smirk into a full-fledged grin. "Whenever you can manage to find the time, then, Your Greatness," he drawled. "I know your divine time is precious."

"Everything about me is precious, mortal," she retorted.

"You won't hear any arguments from me," he commented lightly, but there was a sincere agreement that he didn't voice aloud, and it touched her more than she would have expected it to.

Rolling over onto her side and propping herself up on one elbow, Jaina stared at the man laying next to her, letting her gaze drift over the high cheekbones, the sharp chin, and the smooth, ridiculously handsome features of the Jedi Master she had once slapped for deceiving her.

At first, she had decided to forgive that past transgression solely because Kyp Durron was useful to have around, a Jedi rogue who wasn't above ambiguous methods and who, if properly convinced, could be a powerful ally. Somewhere along the way, though, she'd begun to want him at her side for reasons other than his power, reasons that she tried not to dwell on, although it was hard not to consider them in moments like this, when simple words from him spoken so casually and affectionately made her heart skip a beat.

_Emotions like this make you weak,_ an inner voice sneered quietly. _You're better off alone, and stronger._

Perhaps so, but the last thing Jaina wanted these days was to be alone. Jacen and Anakin were gone, and she was only an echo of the girl she'd once been, without her brothers she was not whole and never could be again.

Being with Kyp, though, made the ache lessen and the emptiness inside of her seem to shrink. When she was in his arms, the grief and pain was almost bearable, and the simple feel of his presence sleeping next to her at night was enough to chase away the lingering nightmares that continued to haunt her since Myrkr.

The thought of losing him like she had her brothers, or not having him at her side, was unthinkable.

If that made her weak, then so be it.

"You are anything but weak," Kyp murmured, picking up on her thoughts. "Me, on the other hand..."

Sensing a dull twist of bitter emotions within him, Jaina frowned, not certain she wanted to try and sort through them, to figure out the trajectory path of his own thoughts, which were heavy and somber.

"You're not regretting coming with me, are you?" she asked hesitantly. 

Kyp's eyes snapped open and she found startlingly intense emerald eyes boring into her own. "No," he replied sharply, and she could sense the unrestricted truth behind that answer, and the sentiments it carried. "I don't regret it. I made a choice, Jaina, and whether it was the right one or the wrong one, it doesn't even matter, because it was the only one I could make."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Jaina demanded, bristling. "Because I-"

"Goddess," Kyp cut her off, quietly but with a firm tone, and something compelling in his eyes stirred something deep within her. "My place is with you." 

"Finally figure that out, did you?" Jaina asked lightly, favoring him with a faint smile.

"What can I say?" Kyp shrugged. "I'm a slow learner."

"But a very effective teacher," Jaina assured him with a suggestive smirk, letting her fingertips brush across his lips.

Chuckling, Kyp caught her hand and kissed it, holding it in his own larger, strong hand. "Where are we going, anyway?" he inquired. "You never did say."

"You're just now thinking to ask that?" Jaina retorted in haughty amusement. "What if I'd been plotting to fly us straight into the very heart of the Yuuzhan Vong territory and drive this ship directly into Shimrra's worldship?"

"I trust you," he answered with a knowing smile. "Besides, if you knew where Shimrra's worldship was, we would have been chasing after it a long time ago." 

"Touche," Jaina conceded.

"So where are we headed?" Kyp asked, one finger toying with a loose strand of her dark hair. "I know you've got to have something in mind." 

Deciding she might as well tell him now, rather than letting him figure it out when they emerged from hyperspace, Jaina shrugged, as if it were of little concern. "I was thinking Tatooine," she replied vaguely, certain he was aware that she had already inputted the coordinates into the hyperdrive.

Kyp's hand stilled with her hair wrapped around it. "Tatooine?" he echoed with a groan.

"And what, pray tell," Jaina said in amusement. "Do you have against Tatooine?"

"Other than the fact that it's a dusty, scorched desert world with no water?" Kyp demanded dryly. "Nothing, nothing at all." 

"We have water with us, remember?" she reminded him. "There's plenty in with the rations."

"Why Tatooine of all worlds?" Kyp asked, clearly resisting the urge to grumble. "Why not somewhere nice, like Mon Calamari?" 

"First of all, as soon as Borleias falls, Uncle Luke and the others will be heading straight to Mon Calamari," Jaina pointed out. "It's the interim capitol for what's left of the Republic. If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not run into my family or the Jedi if we can help it."

"You have a point," Kyp murmured. "And the other reason?" 

"You'll see soon enough," she promised.

"Don't do that."

Taken aback by the sudden exasperation in his voice, and the frustration simmering just beneath the surface, Jaina's smirk faded and she blinked at Kyp in confusion. "Do what?"

"Play coy with me," he replied shortly. "I don't like it."

Jaina raised an eyebrow, prompting further explanation lest she grow agitated herself.

"If we're going to do this, if we're going to be lovers or equals or whatever," Kyp told her seriously. "Then you have to keep me in the loop. We either do it together, or not at all."

"You mean like partners?" Jaina asked, intrigued by the notion. 

"Yeah." Kyp nodded, and he seemed to feel that was precisely the word they were looking for. "Like partners." 

"Mmm," Jaina mused, letting her fingers dance lightly across his jaw and then trace their way down to the smooth hollow of his throat. "I think I kind of like the sound of that."

"Really?" he drawled, eyes darkening with desire. "I hadn't noticed."

"Your powers of observation are weakening, Master Durron," Jaina informed him with mock disappointment as she leaned over him, flashing a leering smirk. "Soon I'll have you right where I want you."

"And where, exactly," Kyp inquired huskily. "Is that?" 

"Here," she murmured against his lips, and he responded instantly.

One of Kyp's hands moved to entangle itself in her hair while the other arm pulled her down on top of him and came to rest across the small of her back. Jaina's eyes feel closed as his lips hungrily devoured her own, and she gave in to the moment. To the passion and the overwhelming need to lose herself in this man, now and always, for however long the Force deemed to let her live.

Their Jedi robes were quickly discarded and allowed to pool on the floor at the side of the bed.

A wild frenzy of passion fell over them when they came together, and with the feel of Kyp's skin against hers, feeling his heart beating in time with her own, hearing him gasp her name softly, the rest of the galaxy ceased to exist for Jaina. There was nothing but the two of them, and even then, there was no division, no separation between their identities and presences.

It was as if their minds had melded together through the Force to become one entity, one single breath. Every touch and sensation was shared, every fleeting thought of tenderness and awe flowed to them both, every spark of pleasure was a mutual experience.

During moments like this, she was completely without defenses, without shields or walls or even her own stubbornness to keep herself protected. She was unguarded and vulnerable, but she was never alone, not anymore. Kyp's presence here with her was more than just physical, she could feel his very spirit, and she was being pulled towards it. They were falling together, falling into each other, just as they had every time they'd come together previously.

What seemed like hours later, Jaina sighed, her head resting on Kyp's shoulder, while his fingers gently ran through her tousled hair, the cool Hapan sheets pulled up around them.

She felt more than saw the smug, satisfied smirk tug its way onto his lips.

"Don't feel so pleased with yourself," she chided, but she couldn't help smiling herself. "Your ego is about to burst."

"Not without reason," Kyp retorted playfully, nuzzling the side of her neck. 

Jaina rolled her eyes, but couldn't really argue with that, not when she was still out of breath herself.

Instead, she let her eyes fall closed for a few moments, just savoring the moment, the rare stillness that she could only seem to find in his arms. Her breathing slowed, and the feel of his steady heartbeat lulled her into a tranquil state, her mind wandering away from this bed and this cabin and this ship, but not from the man resting beside her.

A man she knew instinctively, as well as she knew her own mind.

Over the past few weeks, she had come to know him entirely, inside and out, down to the very last detail. She knew his hopes and fears, his weaknesses and strengths, his successes and failures, his most soaring joys and his most private sorrows. She saw into the essence of his spirit, the depths of his heart, the very core of his being. 

As he saw into hers.

Kyp knew her, and he accepted her. All of her, the good and the bad. There was no need to hide with him, no need for pretending or defending herself. He knew the darkest shadows in her heart, and he accepted them, loved them even.

"I love _you_," he murmured in her ear.

In the circle of his arms, Jaina stiffened, and her heart forgot to beat, just as her breath failed her. A strange emotion welled up inside of her chest, equally beautiful and painful, some conflicting mixture of joy and despair that couldn't be defined, much less explained.

"You can't love me," she protested weakly, her voice raspy and faltering.

"Why not?" Kyp asked softly, a touch of amusement accompanying his confusion as he rested his chin on her bare shoulder, brushing his cheek against hers.

"Because," Jaina whispered, and she hated how fragile, how childlike, she sounded, her heart wrenching with all the grief she had been refusing to feel ever since Myrkr, with all the lonely desolation and the terrifying emptiness, the fear of being alone and lost in the shadows without anyone to help her find her way out again. "Everyone I love leaves... everyone I love dies..."

The amusement she sensed in Kyp faded, dying out as if someone had just dropped him into one of the frigid ice flows on Hoth. His own heart, so closely intertwined with hers, gave a violent and painful twist, plummeting to new depths, and suddenly his arms tightened around her fiercely, as if trying to meld their bodies together the way that they had their spirits.

"Oh, Goddess," he murmured, raining light, feathery kisses along her collarbone as he spoke. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You can't know that," she argued hoarsely, as hot, shameful tears seared past her eyelashes and down her cheeks.

"Yes, I can," Kyp insisted, and with such conviction that she almost believed him.

It didn't change anything, though, she couldn't love him. She wouldn't love him, she wouldn't let herself. Not after Jacen and Anakin, not now that she knew how easily he could be taken from her, how a single moment could change, and destroy, everything inside of her.

She couldn't love him, because then she might lose him.

_You already couldn't bear to lose me, Goddess,_ Kyp's voice, warm and strong and vibrant, filled her. There was no arrogance in his words, just a simple truth, and behind it a force of love so deep and so profound that it seemed to cry out to her, begging to be cradled, to be met with a love equally as strong and unwavering. _How is denying what you feel going to change that?_

"You don't know what you're talking about," Jaina cried, harsher than she'd intended to. She was angry now, though, which was good. Anger made her strong, anger kept her from shattering into thousands of tiny pieces after Myrkr, and it would keep her from falling apart now. "You don't know anything!"

She gave a violent jerk, trying to break free of his embrace, but he crushed her hard against his chest, unwilling to let her go, and his fingers dug into her arms sharply with enough force that she was certain she would have bruises in the morning.

_I know that I love you,_ he raged back. His mental voice was speaking softly, but it was still a rage, full of passionate anger and burning emotion. She struggled to slip out of his arms, twisting and kicking in her desperation to get away, but his unwavering grip only tightened, painfully so, and all she suceeded in doing was causing her own arms to strain in agony. _And I know that you love me._

For the second time, Jaina went perfectly still, all of the fight suddenly knocked out of her by that one merciless accusation. She wanted to argue, to tell him he was wrong, to shout that she didn't love him, didn't need him, but the words wouldn't come.

With his fiery warmth and soaring passion shining into her through their rapport, his arms wrapped around her with fierce possessiveness, his mind open to her and his heart bared... it was impossible to deny it.

And so she just let him hold her.

But she didn't breathe, the tension did not ease out of his caging embrace, and neither of them spoke or moved for what seemed like a lifetime.

Instead, they just seemed to float in each other, basking in a silent warmth they couldn't help but share, and as time stretched on, they fell beyond thought and emotion.

And just drifted.


	31. Chapter 31

It was the middle of the night when he arrived on Borleias.

Despite this fact, the base was still very much alive, with pilots in sims and refugees padding around looking for late night meals, even as more arrived.

Stretching his towering frame, Lowbacca growled under his breath as he made his way out of the _Rock Dragon_'s cockpit and towards the hatch. The trip from Hapes had been relatively short, but it had felt like a journey from one side of the galaxy to another, mostly due to the heavy nature of his thoughts, which were the only company he had while in hyperspace.

As he slapped his furry hand against the touchpad, Lowbacca's neck tingled, familiar presences approaching in the distance.

Despite his weariness, he smiled a small, fanged smile.

By the time the hatch opened and the ramp lowered, he knew exactly who he would find waiting for him out in the landing field, and he wasn't disappointed.

All of the survivors of the strike team to Myrkr who had accompanied Master Skywalker upon his departure from Hapes were gathered, along with a few other friends from their days back at the Jedi Academy on Yavin Four, and the group broke into wide smiles as they spotted him. The weeks since their last parting had been long and stressful for them all, and seeing him alive and well was a relief, but there was no mistaking the dull disappointment that he was alone.

Jaina had not come with him.

The morning after the defeat of the Yuuzhan Vong fleet over Hapes, Lowbacca had gone looking for her, only to find the docking bay that once housed the living ship they had escaped from Myrkr on missing. Tenel Ka had come to him then, to quietly inform him that Jaina had left late the night before, during the celebration, in the company of Master Durron.

She had not even waited to say good-bye.

Tenel Ka had explained that Jaina had felt it for the best, to spare him any emotional confliction, but Lowbacca was not satisfied by that, not in the least. Jaina Solo had been his closest friend for many years, despite the strange habits of humans that often baffled him, and he did not like that she had not given him a choice in the matter. After all, his uncle Chewbacca had made all of the Skywalkers and Solos part of his honor family, and that debt was one that Lowbacca and his own family were bound to fulfill in Chewbacca's memory.

And he could hardly protect Jaina when she was halfway across the galaxy, gone Force knows where.

A small part of him, though, was relieved that she had left the way she had, because it would have been difficult to face her, knowing what had happened to Ta'a Chume. It had been with sad reluctance that Tenel Ka revealed the news about her grandmother's death, and though he had not wanted to believe it, though he had tried to deny it, he had felt the truth of her words.

Perhaps sensing his own inner turmoil, or perhaps simply because he had stopped in the doorway of the hatch, his friends eyed him with concern.

Shaking off his grim reverie, Lowbacca gave a joyous bark of greeting, and the tension faded.

Tahiri rushed forward to fling herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist, and Lowbacca chuckled, placing his furry arms on her small shoulders as he affectionately ruffled her golden hair.

Her happiness at seeing him was tinged with an ever-present sadness, a sense of loss that would never fully heal, and the Wookiee held her close, suddenly overcome by a protective urge to keep her safe. This small human had always been in his heart, it was impossible, he had long since decided, to look upon Tahiri Veila and see her smile, listen to her bubbling laughter, and not love her, but now he found that he was frightened for her, although he couldn't say exactly why.

Anakin Solo's death had deeply affected them all, but none as terribly as it had Jaina and Tahiri. While his sister had let herself fall from the light, seeking vengeance and lusting for the blood of the Yuuzhan Vong, Anakin's girlfriend had become quiet and sullen, a mere shade of the laughing, spirited girl she had once been.

Lowbacca would have had her laugh again, if he only knew how to ease her pain.

"Make room," a familiar male voice said, and Tahiri lifted her head as Zekk approached them with a smile on his face. In compliance, she scooted over, but didn't let go of Lowbacca, and Zekk was more than willing to join in the embrace, as awkward as it ended up being.

[It is good to see you, Lowbacca growled at the dark-haired young Jedi.

"It's good to see you, too, pal," Zekk replied warmly, clasping his large forearm in small, human hands. "We missed you these past few weeks, didn't we, Tahiri?"

"Of course," she agreed, smiling weakly.

Zekk and Lowbacca both glanced at her silently, then shared a knowing look, remembering a time when her smiles were bright and infectious, full of light and mischief.

It would be a long time before she smiled like that again, if ever.

"Hello, Lowbacca," Alema Rar said, coming to embrace him once Tahiri and Zekk had finally pulled away. The Twi'lek woman gave him a smile that was friendly enough, but her lekku were drooping with fatigue, and he rumbled a quiet inquiry. "I am fine, just tired."

Lowbacca wasn't quite sure he believed that, but he nodded and let it go as Tesar extended a scaled hand to clasp his in a firm, powerful grip. [How are you, my friend?

"Thiss one iz doing well," Tesar replied grimly.

[Where is Tekli? Lowbacca inquired, not seeing the diminutive Chandra-Fa anywhere among the fringe of onlookers around the landing field.

"She went to join Cilghal on Mon Calamari," Ganner Rhysode answered, stepping forward. "Hello, Lowbacca."

[Hello, Ganner, Lowbacca responded in kind. [You seem tired.

"We're all tired," Ganner retorted, running a hand through his dark hair. "But there isn't really much time to rest these days, is there?"

[No. There does not seem to be.

"I'm beginning to think we should have gone with Tekli," Zekk commented wryly. "At least then we could be sunning ourselves out on the coral reefs while we wait for the Yuuzhan Vong to attack us."

Thinking of the missed opportunity for swimming in the warm oceans and sleeping in the sun, Lowbacca groaned in agreement. They could have all used the break, after Myrkr they were in desperate need of a vacation, but there was no time to stop and relax, no time to rest and come to terms with what they had endured there.

"Speaking of the Yuuzhan Vong," Ganner said pointedly, looking directly at Lowbacca. "Master Skywalker is going to Coruscant in a few days."

Startled, Lowbacca roared quietly. [Has he lost his mind? he wanted to know, and he was only half-joking. After all he had seen from Jaina while on Hapes, he was not sure how grief might be affecting the revered Jedi Master's thinking now that both of his nephews were dead. [Coruscant has been conquered by the Vong.

"He knows," Tahiri spoke up quietly. "But there's a dark presence there, something in the Force, and Master Skywalker feels that it can't be ignored. That's why we have to go."

The words 'dark presence' instinctively set him on edge, making him dread the thought that Coruscant might have been Jaina's intended destination upon leaving Hapes, that she might be that dark presence, but even as he opened his mouth to tentatively inquire about that, the rest of Tahiri's words kicked in.

['We'? he echoed in disbelief.

"It's an undercover infiltration mission," Ganner explained carefully, and the glance he sent in Tahiri's direction told Lowbacca that he was just as uneasy about this. "No one knows the Yuuzhan Vong better than she does, so Luke and Mara agreed to let her come along."

Incredulous, Lowbacca growled loudly, shaking his head.

"Master Skywalker agreed to it," Tahiri pointed out, lifting her chin in defiance that reminded him eerily of Anakin, or of Jaina. "I'm going, it's already been decided."

Lowbacca shook his head, opening his mouth to protest, or to volunteer to go along then, but she cut him off, her green eyes suddenly much older and full of somber grief.

"Leia thinks that Jacen is still alive," she told him quietly. "It seems impossible, even Master Skywalker felt his death, but suppose for a moment that it's true, that Jacen is being held captive on Coruscant. Thanks to the Force-meld we used at Myrkr, and our common connection with Anakin, I know him better than anyone outside of his family. If he's alive, I might be able to find him."

Groaning, Lowbacca conceded that point, but he still didn't like it.

"The reason I brought this up," Ganner said, clearing his throat. "Is that Master Skywalker wants to speak with you, Lowbacca, as soon as possible. I, uh, think it's about Hapes."

A tense, awkward silence fell over them all, and no one needed clarification on what Ganner was talking about. Hapes meant Jaina, and everything she had been up to there, all the warning signs that Tenel Ka had been constantly trying to point out to him but he didn't want to see, and the most recent developments regarding Kyp Durron's apparent fall from grace thanks to Jaina's manipulations.

Chuffing, Lowbacca nodded.

"He and Master Jade Skywalker are waiting for you with the Solos, then," Ganner told him grimly. "For all of us. They wanted us to be there, too, to provide our own perspectives on things leading up to our arrival on Hapes, I guess. I'll show you to the conference room, unless you want to get something to eat first?"

[I had some rations in hyperspace, Lowbacca declined, and Tahiri made a face, clearly remembering the rations they had eaten during the strike team's mission.

"All right, then," Ganner said. "Follow me."

Alema and Tesar fell into step behind him, with Tahiri at their heels, and Lowbacca exchanged a hesitant look with Zekk before they, too, followed. Out of all of them, only Zekk seemed to fully grasp the magnitude of what had happened after their departure from Hapes, but then again, only Zekk had truly been afraid for Jaina, and of her, from the start, as soon as she started hurling Force lightning at the Yuuzhan Vong on the worldship where Anakin died.

As Ganner led them through the base, the occasional pilot or refugee would smile at them, and a few familiar faces waved as they passed, but Lowbacca barely noticed.

With every step that he drew closer to the conference room where he sensed Master Skywalker waiting, the knot in his stomach tightened even more. He did not want to be here, not now, not with this terrible news to bear. It was daunting enough to know he would have to report to Master Skywalker about Jaina's actions, but to have to do so with Han and Leia Solo there, as well?

Losing their sons had nearly destroyed Jaina's parents, learning what had befallen their only daughter would devastate them.

And Lowbacca would have to be the one to tell them.

They finally reached their destination, and Ganner opened the door, motioning them inside.

As he stepped into the room, a delicious smell reached Lowbacca's nose, and he growled appreciatively, eliciting a soft chuckle from Leia Solo as she rose from her seat to welcome them.

"Please, take as much as you like, Lowbacca," she ordered kindly, gesturing to the dark-hours meal that had been set upon the table. "We know you had a long trip and thought you might be hungry, so we had something prepared for you."

[Thank you, Princess Leia, Lowbacca replied, giving her a respectful half-bow.

He glanced at Master Skywalker as he lowered himself into an oversized chair that had been brought in specifically for his tall Wookiee frame, and Luke smiled. "Help yourself to some food, then we'll talk," the Jedi Master instructed, echoing his sister's sentiments.

Satisfied, Lowbacca set about wolfing down a bit of food, aware of the amused expressions on the faces of those around him, and Tahiri ended up swiping one or two of the nerf strips from his plate, but he didn't mind. She had lost entirely too much weight during their strike mission and had yet to gain it back, so she probably needed the food more than he did right now.

Since there were others waiting on his report, Lowbacca set his plate aside after just a few minutes, deciding it best to wait until he'd filled Master Skywalker in before he finished off his meal.

"First off," Luke said kindly. "Let me tell you how good it is to see you arrived safely, Lowbacca."

[Thank you, Master Skywalker, Lowbacca chuffed.

"I noticed Jaina didn't come with you from Hapes," Luke observed evenly.

Lowbacca's dark eyes flickered to Han Solo, who sat beside his wife, and to Mara Jade Skywalker on Leia's right, who was watching him with somber green eyes. [No, he replied. [She decided not to come to Borleias.

"I can't say I'm surprised," Luke murmured, and his eyes flickered for a moment. "I had hoped, but... please, continue, Lowie. We're all very curious to hear about how things went on Hapes after our departure."

[I... am not sure quite where to start, Lowbacca said with a hesitant growl.

"The beginning's usually a good place," Han commented wryly, but Lowbacca's hesitation seemed to have clued him in that this wasn't going to be a story with a happy ending, because his eyes looked old and tired now, full of silent dread.

"Why don't you tell us what happened when you accompanied Jaina and Kyp to Gallinore?" Leia suggested patiently.

Shrugging his massive shoulders, Lowbacca woofed softly. [I spent most of my time there searching through their computer database to collect information that might help us better understand the Yuuzhan Vong technology.

"Did you find anything useful?" Alema asked eagerly.

[Some, yes, Lowbacca confirmed, and would have elaborated further, but he sensed that the rest of the room's occupants were impatient to hear about Jaina, not their discoveries. [I would be happy to explain them to you later.

Alema nodded, satisfied.

[Jaina went back and forth between talking to Gallinorian scientists and working on the Trickster with Kyp, while Tenel Ka was busy with some Hapan duties he continued. [We didn't see much of each other during those few days, but Jaina, Tenel Ka and I took a hike into the wilds one evening, to observe firedrakes.

"Firedrakes?" Zekk echoed with a frown. "Aren't those giant insects or something?"

Remembering the way those giant insects had ambushed them, Lowbacca growled distastefully, and the others smiled faintly, getting a sense of what had happened through the Force.

"That's all you did on Gallinore?" Mara asked, her gaze boring into his. "Talk to scientists and look over computer terminals?"

[Basically, yes, Lowbacca replied, then paused, a deep frown touching his lips as something flitted about the farthest edges of his mind. Hadn't Jaina gone somewhere, done something, to help her figure out how to work the gravitic repulsors that they had constructed?

No, he decided after a long moment of thought. He would have remembered that if she had.

"Something wrong?"

Shaking his head at Mara, Lowbacca refocused. [No, nothing, he replied. [Where was I?

"Your return to Hapes, if nothing else happened at Gallinore," Mara responded shrewdly.

Nodding, Lowbacca told them about Jaina's request for Wookiee techs to help them deconstruct the information they had gathered on Gallinore, and grim looks were exchanged by all around when he answered Leia's question about how many he had lost on the way back to Hapes.

He decided to leave out that she had called on the life debt his family owed her father to get those Wookiees there.

Instead, he told them about the gravitic repulsors that Jaina had been using to confuse the Yuuzhan Vong, and how she and Kyp had argued over her sending up pilots on suicide missions to gather sensitive data that had, in the end, been part of the reason the Yuuzhan Vong were pushed back at Hapes.

No one had spoken when he revealed that those pilots went up in ship's bearing the Trickster's signal, but they didn't need to.

Everything that could have been said was visible through the Force.

And so he continued, trying to stick to the important details and not venture off-topic with his commentary, moving on to the first battle over Hapes, where Jaina's trickery had forced a retreat from the priest's fleet. He spoke of the recent tension between Jaina and Tenel Ka, of the fights the two women had during his time on Hapes, and Tahiri had looked away when he mentioned that most of their fighting took root on the subject of Jacen leaving Anakin behind.

Leia had taken the girl's hand in hers then, squeezing it, and Han had pulled her closer to sit with him and his wife, a symbolic gesture as much as it was one of affection, a silent way of telling her that she wasn't alone, that they considered her a part of their family.

A family which she so desperately needed these days.

When he got to the part about Ta'a Chume's plot to marry Jaina off to Isolder, the young Jedi present all flinched, and Zekk looked positively horrified, but the adults just exchanged a grim look, clearly already having gleaned previous knowledge about the former queen's motives.

"Ta'a Chume sent a dowry and tried to bribe us with the refugees on Hapes," Leia explained as she sensed Lowbacca's confusion. "If we tried to talk Jaina out of it, then she would hand them over the Yuuzhan Vong."

"I knew I didn't like that old woman for a reason," Zekk muttered under his breath.

Somehow, Lowbacca got the feeling that his dislike for Ta'a Chume stemmed more from the woman trying to marry Jaina off to Isolder than from her callous disregard for the lives of the refugees, and he was certain that the dark-haired young man's resentment of Kyp Durron would only soar to new heights by the time he concluded with his report.

"I'm assuming since we haven't gotten any royal notices from Hapes, Jaina declined the offer?" Mara asked dryly, but there was a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes.

[Yes, Lowbacca confirmed, then hesitated, trying to find the easiest way to continue with what he had to say. [Ta'a Chume revealed her intentions to Jaina, and Jaina apparently laughed in her face.

Ganner and Alema grinned at that, and Tesar gave a hiss of amusement, while even Leia and Luke's relief was tinged with a touch of amusement.

"That's my girl," Han declared wryly.

Lowbacca was the only one who didn't show the faintest ghost of a smile, and once the others noticed, an uneasy silence fell over the room as they braced themselves for the rest of the story.

[Ta'a Chume was not prepared for Jaina to refuse, he explained grimly. [She had already dispatched assassins to kill Teneniel Djo.

"Oh, no," Leia gasped, her face going a shade pale.

Assuring them that Teneniel Djo lived still, Lowbacca explained what Tenel Ka had explained to him, how Jaina had seen a vision and sent Kyp Durron to find Tenel Ka, and the two of them had disabled the assassins before the poison could be administered. He informed Master Skywalker that Tenel Ka was acting as regent queen until her mother was healthy enough to return to the throne, and relayed the Hapan princess' request about whether it would be possible to arrange for one of the Jedi healers to visit Hapes in the hopes of speeding up Teneniel Djo's recovery.

"Of course," Luke agreed at once. "I'll contact Cilghal in the morning."

"And what about Ta'a Chume?" Mara asked quietly.

Lowbacca turned his head to find Jaina's former Master staring at him with somber, sad eyes. [She is no more, he said with a soft growl.

Even Han, who had no Force-sensitivity whatsoever, seemed to sense what went unspoken.

"Jaina did... that?" he asked hoarsely, unable to say the words.

With a mournful howl, Lowbacca nodded sorrowfully.

And no one spoke again for a long time, as the implications of this slowly sunk in, and they all came, inevitably, to the same terrible conclusion.

"Sithspawn," Mara breathed, closing her eyes as if to block out the horrible truth.

"Well," Ganner said weakly. "Technically speaking, she is-"

"Shut up, Rhysode!"

"Right," Ganner muttered sheepishly. "Shutting up."

For a long moment, the room was silent, at least aloud. Through the Force... there was a whirlwind of emotions and frantic thoughts, clouded and stormy, but no one could seem to find their voice.

Not even Ganner, who, without his defense mechanism of making jokes, was now staring down at his hands with a vacant, helpless expression.

Finally, Luke spoke, little more than a whisper.

"Do you have any clue where they went?" he asked, and he suddenly looked old to Lowbacca's eyes, as if a dozen years or more had just been placed upon him.

Growling regretfully, Lowbacca shook his head. [Tenel Ka said that she attempted to track them, she allowed them to take a Hapan passenger cruiser to evade the Yuuzhan Vong pursuing Jaina. But the tracking signal does not work, Jaina must have discovered the devices and turned them off. He paused for a moment, chuffing bitterly. [All fifteen of them.

Another drawn moment of silence, and then Han cleared his throat. "So you're saying that Jaina and Kyp are out there, Force knows where, on a ship that could take them to the other side of the galaxy undetected, and they're both clearly working the dark side mojo?"

[Yes, Lowbacca confirmed, then hesitated. [They also raided the ammunitions bunker before leaving the capitol, according to some of the military officials.

"Ammunitions?" Mara echoed with dread.

[I do not know the specifics, Lowbacca growled. [But Tenel Ka was under the impression that Jaina might have a large enough arsenal to blow up the entire Industrial Sector on Coruscant.

"Pity the Vong," Alema muttered under her breath, earning her a sharp look from the Jedi Masters gathered.

Whatever reprimand they might have been about to give her, though, was cut off when Han suddenly rose to his feet in one fluid movement, and strode quickly from the room without so much as a glance at anyone.

"Han," Leia called after him, but Luke prevented her from following.

"He needs some time," her brother explained softly, his blue eyes startlingly bleak. "He won't go far, just to the nearest base cantina."

"I think we could all use a drink right about now," Ganner sighed.

"Tell me about it," Zekk muttered.

Though he remained silent, watching Luke try to comfort Leia with soft murmurs, both aloud and through their special bond in the Force, Lowbacca was inclined to agree.

And he had a feeling that they would be frequenting the bar often in the coming days.


	32. Chapter 32

"I think I finally know why Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah," Kyp Durron confirmed with a scowl. "It was this sithspawned planet!"

Beside him, his companion laughed, and he decided that hearing Jaina's laughter was almost worth the coarse, gritty sand scraping the skin off of his face at the moment.

"You are such a dramatic," Jaina said in amused disbelief. "Tough it up, Master Durron. It's only a little sand."

"Easy for you to say," Kyp grumbled. "There's hardly any sand covering your face. I'm starting to think this planet just likes you and is playing favorites."

Jaina rolled her eyes and kept walking, but Kyp was only half-joking. While he felt like every exposed fleck of skin on his body was caked in sand, and the rest of him wasn't fairing much better since sand seemed to find ways to get under his clothes, it really did seem like hardly any of it was sticking to Jaina.

_Damn Skywalker blood,_ he thought irritably.

"Would explain why I feel so at home here," Jaina commented, picking up on that thought.

"Here?" Kyp demanded incredulously, sweeping out an arm at the endless sea of sand in all directions. "In the middle of the Force-forsaken Jundland Wastes?"

"It's hard to explain," Jaina said with a shrug. "I just feel connected to this place, to this planet. Ever since we entered orbit, it's like I just returned home for the first time in years. The twin suns beating down on my back, the dry air around us... even every grain of sand out here feels eerily familiar."

"That's it," Kyp declared, after staring at her for a long moment. "You have gone certifiably insane."

"I thought it because I was a Skywalker?" Jaina retorted.

"Goddess, from where I'm standing, there isn't much of a difference," Kyp informed her bluntly.

"Oh, like you're one to talk, Durron," she shot back with a rather smarting smirk. "I seem to recall an instance when I was back at the Academy where Corran wanted you locked up in a sanitarium after some stunt you pulled when Uncle Luke sent the two of you on a mission to Ryloth."

"It's not my fault Horn was getting too old for the job," Kyp defended himself.

Snorting, Jaina shook her head, continuing to lead the long trek through the Western Dune Sea, and Kyp followed, feeling considerably less agitated, even if he was coming to loathe sand to new extremes that he had not even known existed until now.

The desert winds whipped gently at their Jedi robes as they made their way across the scorching sand, causing their black cloaks to billow out behind them ominously.

Kyp scowled to himself, tugging his hood down lower in a futile attempt to protect his face from the stinging grains of sand the wind was slapping him with, and he felt Jaina's distinct amusement at his hapless situation through the rapport between them in the Force.

Deciding it probably wouldn't be a good idea to hurl sand at her in retaliation, although it would have made him feel better, Kyp allowed himself to be comforted by the deep waters of the bond that existed between them.

It had been an unexpected, albeit not undesired, development when things progressed beyond just physical intimacy between them. Although he had only just voiced the true depth of his feelings for her while in hyperspace after leaving Hapes, the bond, the connection, had been there from the start.

Even before that first kiss, they had been inexplicably bound and drawn to one another.

And it had nearly driven him mad longing for her, with a fierce ache that never went away and never seemed to lessen in intensity, but he had resisted it for as long as he could. In time, though, he'd given in, and he'd come to realize that all of the reasons he'd convinced himself should keep them apart were nothing but excuses to hide his own anxiety about entering into such an intimate and deep relationship.

Because it was all or nothing when it came to him and Jaina, it always had been and always would be.

But even after their relationship had taken a physical direction, there had still been something missing. It was intense, it was passionate, it was better than anything he could have ever dreamed of, and he dreamed quite a bit on that particular matter, but it hadn't been perfection.

Not until that night after fleeing Hapes, when he'd told her, in breathless confession, that he loved her.

And she had refused him.

The funny thing about him and Jaina was that even when they were trying to push one another away, even when they were arguing and fighting and trying to hurt each other, neither of them could walk away. It was a strange moment of smug satisfaction when he'd first realized that she was just as out of control as he was when it came to them.

So he'd called her on it, on the fact that she knew she loved him, because he knew it, too.

It was impossible not to know, given the closeness between them in the Force.

She hadn't said the words, not even then, not even as they lay in each other's arms for hours of silence, the rest of the galaxy and the cold of space kept at bay by unspoken warmth surrounding them.

But that was all right, she hadn't needed to say it.

Kyp knew, and she knew, and somehow that was enough.

And he would get her to say those words sooner or later, no matter how she fought him, because he would find a way to force it out of her, to break her.

_I do so love a challenge,_ he thought with a silent chuckle.

Even one as difficult as Jaina Solo.

"Who are you calling difficult?" she scoffed on the sand dune ahead, picking up on the end of that train of thought. "This from Kyp Durron, the proverbial thorn in the Jedi Order's side?"

"I'm certain there are Jedi who would rather deal with me than you on one of your bad days," Kyp retorted hotly. "I happen to have the less viotle temper."

"Which means you should watch what you say, mortal," she snapped coolly.

"Technically I didn't _say _anything," Kyp pointed out with a smirk. "I thought it."

The dark look Jaina gave him from beneath the shadow of her cowl made it clear she was far from amused, and he decided that as enjoyable as arguing with her always was, and what it inevitably seemed to lead to more often than not, being out in the middle of the open desert was probably not the best time to provoke her.

"How much further to Kenobi's hut?"

"Not far," Jaina replied, and while she kept walking, she slowed just enough for him to move up even with her. "Once we get there and set our packs down, I'll go back for the ship and bring it closer while you get the feel of the place. Maybe the Force will be with us and dear Master Kenobi will have left something useful in one of those many hidden compartments Uncle Luke and Mom are certain haven't all been found yet."

"Unless he's got a foodchryo in there," Kyp muttered skeptically. "I don't think the old hermit had anything we need."

"You never know," Jaina said simply, without so much as a glance in his direction as they made their way down the sloped side of the sand dune. "He might."

Recognizing the silky undertone of her voice as a sign that she was particularly irritable at the moment, Kyp wisely kept silent for the next few minutes as they continued their trek across the burning sand, until something occured to him that had slipped his mind until now.

"You know, you never did explain why you chose Tatooine of all worlds," Kyp reminded her, putting a nudge of the Force behind his words. "Somehow I doubt that it was homesickness or whatever your creepy Force issues with this place are."

"I was going to answer you when you asked," Jaina retorted calmly. "It's not my fault you got distracted and forgot about it."

"Technically, I think it is," Kyp pointed out with a faint scowl. "Because you were the distraction, remember?"

Watching her profile beneath her robe's cowl, he saw Jaina's lips curve up into a slow, sultry smile. "Oh, I remember all right," she murmured, with a soft huskiness that made his entire body warm. "How could I forget?"

"I don't know," he replied thickly. "But if you need a refresher course, I'd be more than willing to over you some extra lessons, Your Greatness. After all, you may be a goddess and all, but I'm still the Jedi Master, and you're still just the apprentice."

"Hmm." Jaina gave him a disarming smile. "Keep telling yourself that, lover."

Despite himself, Kyp smirked, as attracted to her feisty, fighting spirit now as he had been the first time she ever provoked an argument with him, back when she was just a kid of fifteen at the Academy on Yavin Four. That fiery nature was, in his opinion, what had kept Jaina strong and standing tall during this war, even while others fell all around her.

They really were two of a kind.

Fighters, warriors.

Survivors.

"Well, since there's nothing to distract me now other than the burning sand," he commented flatly, eyes sweeping over the rocky ravine walls off in the distance, following the curves of the jutting sandstone that rose up out of the sea of sand. "Why don't you fill me in on why we're here?"

"I've got something in mind for the Vong," Jaina answered flatly. "But we needed plenty of open space, away from civilians and away from any buildings or trees that might get in the way."

"You're setting a trap," Kyp concluded, and this intrigued him a good deal. "A big trap, I'm assuming."

"One worthy of Yun-Harla, I hope."

"And you're the bait?"

"The _Trickster_, technically," Jaina replied smoothly. "But yes, I'm the bait. The gravitic repulsor bearing the Trickster's signature will lead the priest and his fleet to Tatooine looking for me, and when they come, we'll be ready for them."

Kyp nodded slowly, things now beginning to click in his head. "Hence all the explosives in the hold of the _Vengeance_."

The _Divine Vengeance_, as Jaina had dubbed the Hapan ship during their time in hyperspace, had been given to them by Tenel Ka shortly before their departure from Hapes, and it had been a very surprising gesture from the stoic young Jedi, who had made it perfectly clear that she did not agree with either Jaina's methods or her philosophy.

Tenel Ka had claimed that it was to prevent the Yuuzhan Vong from catching them unawares if they figured out how to bypass the gravitic repulsors that Jaina had worked up, but Kyp suspected she had ulterior motives.

And the dozen discreetly hidden tracking devices that Jaina had removed before leaving Hapes only proved that.

"Precisely," Jaina confirmed with a crisp nod. "The Yuuzhan Vong have no interest in Tatooine- like you said, it's a barren world. Nothing grows here, there's no water, so they think it's a worthless planet. When the Trickster's signal leads the priest's fleet here, they're going to assume that we fled here to hide, and they'll bring in ground troops to hunt us down."

"Only we'll be the ones doing the real hunting?" Kyp concluded.

"When they come for me," Jaina agreed, smirking coolly. "We'll be waiting for them out here in the middle of nowhere, and they'll walk right into my trap."

"And what kind of trap are we talking about exactly?"

"The Force doesn't really work against the Yuuzhan Vong," Jaina said evenly, giving him a steady, almost challenging look. "But the dark side has a few tricks that do."

"Force lightning," Kyp murmured grimly, not shying away from her gaze.

"Among other things," she replied, with a vague sense of amusement, and he knew she was recalling something she had seen at Myrkr. "Force lightning is our best bet as far as the Force goes, but I've got plenty of tricks in my bag."

"I would hope so, Trickster Goddess."

Jaina smiled a thin smile, clearly liking that he caught on so quickly. "All those land mines you were grumbling about having to lug into the cargo hold?" she said smoothly, a wicked gleam in her dark eyes, glittering with anticipation and adrenaline. "We're going to bury them in the sand."

"And what?" Kyp asked, his brow furrowing in contemplation. "Trick the Vong into stepping on them?"

"The Force doesn't work on the Vong, Kyp," Jaina replied pointedly, with patience as if she was talking to a young Jedi initiate instead of a Master several years her senior. "But it still works on land mines."

"Ah." Kyp nodded ruefully, feeling like that Jedi initiate for not seeing it before. "I see your trajectory now. Very interesting."

"Thank you."

The smug, satisfied smile on her lips made him chuckle softly, and Kyp found himself compelled to lean over and give her a short, but searing kiss.

"Am I supposed to thank you for that, too?" she murmured, raising an eyebrow when he pulled back.

"You're welcome, Oh Glorious One," Kyp told her wryly. "So this plan of yours is the reason you insisted on landing the _Vengeance_ so kriffing far from Kenobi's hut?"

"I wanted to get a feel for the land out here, to try and decided where we should have this go down," Jaina replied haughtily. "Why? You're not too old for this sort of thing, are you?"

"I can outpace you in just about anything, Solo," Kyp informed her leeringly.

"Care to put your credits where your mouth is?"

Arching an eyebrow coyly, Kyp asked, "What did you have in mind?"

"Race you to Kenobi's hut," Jaina sneered, and broke into a run, her boots flying across the sand towards the domed little building in the distance, atop a sandy hilltop.

With a smirk, Kyp gave chase.

She had the advantage of her youth, and the toned conditioning of being on the front lines from the start of this war, but Kyp had a few advantages of his own. He was taller, with a longer stride, and while he wasn't as fresh as she was, he was hardly old.

Despite her brief headstart, he managed to pull almost even with her as they reached the small hovel, but her slender hand still reached out to touch its dry, crumbling wall first.

Or maybe he could claim that he'd just let her win.

"Pay up," Jaina said, laughing breathlessly.

"Left my credits in my other Jedi robe," Kyp retorted, feigning disappointment. "Do you take any other form of payment?"

"Mmm, I suppose we can work something out," Jaina conceded, her lips twitching upward, then her demeanor turned serious as she looked over the hut that had once been the home of Obi-Wan Kenobi for eighteen years of isolation as he hide from the Empire and watched over a young Luke Skywalker. "I need you to put up some kind of Force induced deterrent around this area, just in case any of those little tourists who used to flock anywhere Uncle Luke once visited are still thirsting for history."

"That was quite a few years ago, don't you think?" Kyp pointed out with a frown.

"I don't want to take any chances," Jaina explained. "And it wouldn't hurt to be prepared, now would it?"

"No, it wouldn't," Kyp agreed, nodding in acknowledgment as he followed her around to the hovel's entrance. "I'll see what I can work up while you go back for the ship then."

"Good," Jaina replied, ducking inside.

Years of abandonment, coupled with the ransacking and the looting that had taken place since then, had rendered the small dwelling even more shabby than it must have been during Kenobi's time. It was, essentially, just a single large room with whitewash walls, divided into separate sections by square, stone pillars, and anything of value had long since been taken by Jawas or destroyed by Tuskens.

But from the look of utter and irritating contentment on Jaina's face, she didn't mind in the least.

"Let me guess," Kyp drawled in annoyance, dropping his pack onto the dusty floor at their feet and then moving to take hers from her back. "This place feels familiar to you, too?"

"It does feel strangely safe," Jaina admitted, ignoring his tone as her dark gaze swept around the room. "And comforting. I felt it before, it was like a beacon calling me in this direction, but now that we're actually here, it's... well, it just feels _right _here. Like it's home, like I belong."

"Maybe you do," Kyp offered somberly. "After all, you're still a Skywalker."

"Maybe," Jaina murmured, only half-listening, as if she was in some kind of intoxicated trance, her fingers brushing along the dusty, dry walls in wonderment and awe.

_No maybe about it, then, _Kyp decided grimly, watching her. This place felt secure to him, as well, there was a faint echo of spirituality still lingering in the air, something that spoke to the Jedi within him, but nothing even remotely like the connection that it seemed to have for Jaina.

Seeing her reaction to this place, he realized that suggesting they sleep on the ship, where it was clean and whole and equipped with things that actually worked, was probably not the best way to ensure a pleasurable evening.

"I can feel my grandfather here," Jaina announced softly.

Startled, Kyp frowned at her in confusion. "What?"

"Not his physical presence," Jaina said, shaking her head. "Just... memories, I guess. Feelings. Emotions. Regrets. Obi-Wan carried him here with him, even after all those years." Her hand fell from the wall and she lifted her gaze to meet his, but her eyes were faraway. "He loved him very much."

"I'm sure he was a lovable kid, before he donned the armor."

"He didn't stop loving him, even then," she whispered, more to herself than to him. "And he never really gave up hope that one day..."

Trailing off, the wistfulness in her expression faded sharply, and the steely mask fell again, the soft reflection he'd sensed inside of her for a fleeting moment gone as quickly as it had come.

"I'm going to go back for the ship," Jaina said, all business now and cool as durasteel. "There's a bubbled window along the wall in the back niche that Mom told me about, it looks right at the pass through the craggy rocks in the distance, so Tuskens can't sneak up on you."

Tempted as he was to point out that nothing could sneak up on Kyp Durron, he held his tongue on the matter.

"Be careful," he said instead, enjoying the indignant bristle those words caused within her. "If you're not back by the time both suns have set, I'll come looking for you."

"I'll be back," Jaina replied shortly, giving him a dark look. "Just make sure you get everything taken care of here before I return."

"Your wish is my command, Goddess," Kyp assured her, with a mocking bow.

"It better be, mortal," she snapped, brushing past him and out the door. "Or you'll be sleeping on the cold dirt floor."

Watching her go, Kyp couldn't help smirking to himself.

Force help him, he truly loved that woman.


	33. Chapter 33

A three-fingered hand touched the shimmering viewport of the priestship, tracing the outline of the glittering world turning on its axis in the distance.

Hapes no longer held the beauty that it once had.

At least, not in Harrar's eyes.

What had once been a promising target, a world full of refugees that also happened to be the safehaven of the _Jeedai_ who blasphemed herself as Yun-Harla, was now a symbol of his failure.

For many weeks, he had attempted to bring Jaina Solo to justice, to capture her so that she could be taken back to the conquered capitol of her people, which was being reshaped into Yuuzhan'tar, to be sacrificed in a duel to the death with her craven twin.

It was a sacred duty to see that this sacrifice took place.

And he had failed.

Jaina Solo had not only evaded capture, wriggling out of their grasp again and again, but she had managed to destroy a good portion of his fleet in the process. Her trickery had claimed many warriors, among them none other than Khalee Lah, the son of Warmaster Tsavong Lah.

Harrar had not enjoyed being the one to deliver the news to his old friend that his son was dead.

The report of his failure to capture Jaina Solo had not met with the condemnation that he had been expecting, and that intrigued him greatly. Tsavong Lah had seemed unconcerned by the news, which could only mean that something had happened on Coruscant, there must have been a new development with Jacen Solo.

It was probable that the craven _Jeedai _had not survived the transport.

Still, Harrar had not risen to his current rank by simply accepting probabilities as truth, so he had spent some time in deep thought, considering all the possible alternatives, and yet nothing had come to him yet. He would continue to ponder that until the time that he either captured Jaina Solo or Tsavong Lah revealed to him the secret of his surprising patience in this matter.

Regardless, he knew that failure would not be tolerated so kindly again.

He was not certain yet whether the loss of Khalee Lah would hinder or help his mission to recover the _Jeedai_ witch. As a trusted friend of Tsavong Lah, he felt the warmaster's loss, but Khalee Lah had been a religious fanatic, undertaking the crusade to capture Jaina Solo as a holy quest from the gods.

It had been a concern of Harrar's to note there did not seem to be a limit to how far the young warrior would go to see this done.

_Or were your true concerns that he would discover your own inner doubts? _Harrar asked himself appraisingly.

He did not have an answer to that.

For some time, he had felt something was lacking in his works, in the very religion that he was sworn to devote himself to down to the last drop of blood within his veins. These uncertainties had been carefully hidden, buried deep beneath a mask of duty and devotion, but as of late they had begun to resurface.

All because of the one who dared to call herself Yun-Harla.

Since her escape from the worldship over Myrkr, aboard a living ship nonetheless, Jaina Solo had managed to evade all efforts to capture her, and had proven herself to be the most worthy opponent of all.

Renaming the _Ksstarr_ had been an offensive move on her part, but Harrar rather admired her boldness. In declaring the living ship her own and giving it the name of _Trickster_, she had equated herself with the goddess of trickery, and, despite his words to Khalee Lah on the matter before the young warrior's death, Harrar was no longer confident her claims were entirely unfounded.

To have eluded the best of Yuuzhan Vong warriors and outsmarted the most revered and brilliant of commanders was no little feat, and yet this _Jeedai _had done so with shocking ease.

She had done the impossible and figured out a way to block the yammosk, to allow for information to flow to her ship without giving away any in return. During the past month, the _Ksstarr_ had been spotted all over the system, and had been destroyed several times, and yet she still came back without fail.

Every time that it seemed they had finally gotten her, it would turn out to be a mistake, a great trick. She had been everywhere and nowhere, destroying ship after ship, wreaking havoc on a scale that was incomprehensible for a single ship, and yet she had done it. Their early attempts at invading, solely for the purpose of drawing her out to be captured during the fight, had been rebuffed, time and time again, leading them to amass a much larger fleet in the hopes of taking her by force.

Again, they had been repelled, and forced to retreat with a shattered, dying fleet that put the Yuuzhan Vong to shame.

Khalee Lah would have been relieved that he had not lived to bear this shame, for such a failure would bring disgrace upon Domain Lah, and upon Tsavong Lah.

They could not have mounted another attack on Hapes even if they had desired to, the surprise and sudden arrival of another enemy fleet, this one much larger than the rabble they had been engaging previously, had all but destroyed them entirely. It would have taken several weeks for reinforcements to arrive, and by then the infidels might have very well come for them.

Based on what his spies on Hapes had uncovered, however, there was no need to attack the planet anymore.

Jaina Solo had, the very night that she decimated Harrar's fleet, departed Hapes in the company of the Jeedai Master Kyp Durron, the Destroyer of Worlds. According to the spies, _Jeedai _Durron deferred to his younger counterpart in all matters, which was revealing in itself, considering that intelligence had suggested _Jeedai _Durron did not even defer to _Jeedai _Luke Skywalker, as the rest of his kind did.

Indeed, it seemed that this Jaina Solo, niece of the one called Skywalker, was much more than she appeared.

_The only question,_ he mused, keeping his heretical thoughts to himself. _Is what that something more really is._

Even with Khalee Lah gone, he dared not allow himself to venture too far with this subject, not even in the privacy and safeguarded domain of his own mind. To think such things was as blasphemous as the _Jeedai_'s actions, and punishable by death and disgrace.

Yet he could not help but wonder...

He was saved from indulging in such traitorous thoughts by movement of one of his guards, drawing his attention to the fact that his guest, the commander sent by Tsavong Lah to replace his son, had arrived.

Folding his gnarled hands in front of him, Harrar calmly turned to face the entranceway to the command bridge as the warriors began to move out of way, hushed whispers of veneration flitting about their number when the newly arrived warrior appeared in the coral archway.

A warrior whose face was so thoroughly scarred and tattooed that it all but hid the wrinkles of age, encased in a suit of voodum crab armor that had been augmented to conceal the leanness of active venerability.

It was not often that a Yuuzhan Vong warrior lived to such an age, most died honorably in battle much younger.

But then, most where not legendary Warmasters in their own time.

Tall and gaunt, with a sloping forehead and sharp, aristocratic features scarred by many acts of devotion, Harrar knew that he was an impressive sight to behold. His markings, along with the cunningly wrapped headcloth he wore, identified him as a high priest, and the medallion he wore around his neck attested to his devotion and reverence for his goddess, Yun-Harla.

And yet he did not command half the respect and awe that Czulkang Lah did.

The former Warmaster, now greatly wizened with age, was still as admirable and daunting a figure now as he had been in the prime of his youth, when it had been he making the calls and directing the Yuuzhan Vong's magnificent fleets in battle, as his son now did in his place.

Young warriors had been weaned on his legends, and it showed in the deep reverence they displayed as he passed.

"Greetings, Warmaster," Harrar said, bowing.

"I am not Warmaster," Czulkang retorted shortly. "That title belongs to my son now, Your Eminence."

The use of his title, which lesser warriors were sometimes loathe to use without sarcasm, told Harrar that Tsavong Lah's father had recognized, and appreciated, the gesture of being addressed by his former station.

"It is an honor to have you aboard my priestship," Harrar told the legendary warrior. "Many of the warriors you have been training have served me well during this campaign."

"That is good," Czulkang replied with a curt nod.

Turning to the warriors gathered about the command bridge, Harrar lifted a hand in dismissal. "Leave us," he ordered, and was at once obeyed, all departing with one last reverent look in Czulkang's direction.

All except for Neeka Sot, his personal bodyguard, who remained against the far wall.

Czulkang glanced at her, but did not object. Unlike his foolish grandson, the former warmaster understood the way things worked, and recognized a member of an assassin sect when he saw one. To request her to abandon her post would be to strip her of her honor, and the old warrior would never consider such a thing.

Once they were alone, Czulkang's stiff posture relaxed some, and the once glorious warmaster turned to gaze out of the viewport in the direction of the glistening world beyond.

"My son has brought me out of retirement, given me a chance to lead again, because of this _Jeedai _woman," he said after a long moment, and it was impossible, even for a priest as skilled as Harrar, to determine anything by the flat tone of his voice. "That she has not yet been captured unsettles me."

"As it does me," Harrar replied, and that, at least, was an entire truth.

"Twice your fleet attempted to take her?" Czulkang questioned, although they both knew that he already knew the answer. "And yet she not only slipped past your fingers, she destroyed half of your fleet?"

"More than half, Great One," Harrar corrected quietly.

For a beat, that sunk in, and so did the implications behind it, and then Czulkang nodded. "A formidable enemy then," he conceded lowly. "To have wrought such devastation. She is the one who bested Khalee Lah in combat?"

"Yes," Harrar replied.

Another beat, and then, "This young _Jeedai_, this Jaina Solo, portrays herself to be the goddess Yun-Harla," the former warmaster said slowly. "She flies aboard a living ship, one stolen from Executor Nom Anor during an escape from a worldship where she led a team of _Jeedai_ in the destruction of the voxyn queen and our cloning labs. Since her escape, she has snared honorable Yuuzhan Vong warriors in their own traps, weaving a web of deception and heresy in her wake. Even warriors among my domain's worldship have heard the rumors."

"Rumors, Great One?" Harrar echoed, although he knew precisely what rumors Czulkang spoke of.

Warriors under his command had been whispering them ever since Hapes.

And they continued to play themselves in his ears, despite his every attempt to forget them.

"You know of what I speak, Eminence," Czulkang chastised, but without venom. "Let us not play these games. We are to work together to capture the Jeedai, at my son's behest. I will not presume to deceive you, should you show me the same courtesy."

"Of course, Great One," Harrar agreed, inclining his head in apology. "I have heard whispers of the heresy you speak of, yes. Khalee Lah challenged and killed four warriors aboard this very command bridge for daring to associate Jaina Solo with our goddess."

"I had expected as much," Czulkang said evenly. "Among those confronting the _Jeedai_'s trickery, it would be unlikely to not find those whose weak minds are susceptible to the infidel's manipulations."

"Jaina Solo is no mere infidel," Harrar retorted, and paused, knowing this was potentially dangerous territory. When the former warmaster did not rebuke him, he continued. "She is the daughter of Leia Organa Solo, who once ruled this galaxy, and the niece of Luke Skywalker, commander of the _Jeedai_."

"And she is a twin," Czulkang concluded.

"Yes," Harrar confirmed. "That she is. The warmaster has promised her to the gods in a twin sacrifice, a duel to the death between her and her male counterpart, who has already been taken into Yuuzhan Vong captivity."

"The warmaster should have demanded Nom Anor's life for his failure," the former warmaster sneered, his disgust for the Executor almost palpable in the air around them. "For decades he was our spy among this galaxy, and yet he failed to realize that twin births were not the rarity here that they are among the Yuuzhan Vong. Because of this, the infidel's have a dangerous weapon to use against us."

"While it is true that twin births are more common among the infidels," Harrar said carefully. "We have learned that they are not so common among the _Jeedai_. As far as records show, there have only ever been two sets of _Jeedai_ twins in this galaxy, the ones called Skywalker and the ones called Solo."

Czulkang considered this in silence, clasping his gnarled hands behind his back.

"Have you been able to track the _Ksstarr_ since it's departure?" he asked somberly. "Or has the yammosk been unable to locate the stolen frigate?"

"As of yet, we have had little success, Great One," Harrar confessed apologetically. "But our yammosk keepers are working with the shapers to try and identify how Jaina Solo's trickery has been performed and develop strategies to work around it."

With a nod, Czulkang eyed the priest appraisingly. "The warmaster tells me that the Jeedai has renamed the _Ksstarr_?"

"Yes, Great One," Harrar confirmed, observing the curiosity in the former warmaster's tone. "In what appears to be an attempt to identify the ship with herself, she has given it the name _Trickster_."

"She mocks you, Eminence," Czulkang murmured, with a twinge of amusement.

"She mocks the Yuuzhan Vong as a whole," Harrar corrected softly. "And especially our gods."

While such a pronouncement would have drawn ire from Tsavong Lah and outrage from Khalee Lah, it was obvious that neither had the greatness of their predecessor, for Czulkang actually smiled.

"Indeed," he observed. "She does at that."

"You do not find this offensive, Great One?" Harrar questioned, taking great care not to make it sound like an accusation.

"I find it intriguing, Eminence," Czulkang replied, with a smile that showed his teeth. "As do you."

Harrar acknowledged this point with a slight inclination of his head, and waited for the former warmaster to continue, curious to hear what Czulkang Lah, father of Tsavong Lah and undeniably one of the most prominent and respected warmasters in Yuuzhan Vong history, had to say on the matter.

"As you noted, this _Jeedai_ comes from a powerful domain," Czulkang said thoughtfully. "Her father was once a high-ranking leader in their military. Her mother once ruled over this entire galaxy. Her uncle presides over all of the Jeedai, as his own father once presided over this galaxy during the time of the one they called the Emperor. The Solo boy that fell at Myrkr was the same _Jeedai_ who incited the Shamed One's revolt on Yavin Four and reversed the shaping of the One Who Was Shaped."

"They have the blessing of this Force of theirs," Harrar observed.

"But you wonder if perhaps they do not have the blessing of the gods, as well?"

Startled by the former warmaster's insight, Harrar could only swallow hard, dread settling in upon his shoulders as he contemplated the fate that might be awaiting him for his own heresy.

"Be at ease, Eminence," Czulkang chuckled, and it was not in an unkind manner. "I am not judging you."

"Great One?" Harrar tried to hide his confusion, with little success.

"My son ousted me as Warmaster," Czulkang commented evenly. "I did not want to undertake this campaign, but he disagreed with my judgment. I saw the strength of these infidels even through Nom Anor's pathetic reports. I knew they would not be so easy to conquer."

Taken aback, and more than a little awed, by the former warmaster's heretical words, Harrar could only listen, eager to drink in whatever knowledge Czulkang had to impart, and hoping that he might be able to help him gain some insight into the Jeedai and this Jaina Solo. Insight that they would both desperately need if they were to succeed in their mission to capture her and bring her back to Coruscant for sacrifice.

"But now we are here, and there is no turning back," Czulkang rumbled quietly. "And the Yuuzhan Vong must defeat the _Jeedai _before we can claim this galaxy as our own."

"Yes, Great One," Harrar agreed.

"The Warmaster believes that we will crush them," Czulkang continued. "That their power is insignificant next to our might. But the voxyn are dying, and our people begin to lose faith in their warmaster. The rumors are not limited to the Shamed Ones or young warriors, Eminence, I have heard them from those who have gained the wisdom of long years of battle. If the _Jeedai_ are not beaten soon, then the Yuuzhan Vong are doomed."

Harrar spared a glance over at Neeka Sot before responding, but his bodyguard was not looking at them, and despite the dangerous nature of the conversation, he did not doubt her loyalty to him. "How can we defeat them, Great One?" he asked.

"First we must defeat Jaina Solo," Czulkang replied grimly. "After that, we will see how the _Jeedai _fare."

Before Harrar could reply, Neeka caught his eye, and gestured towards the door, indicating footsteps approaching. The door opened a moment later to reveal one of the yammosk keepers, his dark eyes glittering. "Your Eminence," he said, bowing in apology for interrupting, then bowed to Czulkang. "Warmaster."

"Speak quickly," Harrar ordered.

"We have just detected the Ksstarr's signature, Eminence," the yammosk keeper announced. "On the remote world of Tatooine, in the sector of space that the infidels call the Outer Rim."

Exchanging a silent look with Czulkang, Harrar nodded. "Set a course for this world at once," he commanded.

"Yes, Your Eminence."

Once the yammosk keeper had bowed and left the command bridge, Czulkang tilted his head, a calculating gleam in his eyes. "I have heard of this Tatooine," he said gravely. "It is well distanced from our forces, and from those of the infidels. I do not see logic to this move Jaina Solo has made."

"If I may, Great One," Harrar observed. "Tatooine is reportedly the homeworld of _Jeedai_ Luke Skywalker."

"You think she has returned to this place for safety, then?" Czulkang asked with a frown. "To find a place of solace after the death of the one called Anakin Solo?"

"I think," Harrar said slowly. "That she has chosen this world of Tatooine for a reason that we have yet to understand."

For a long moment, he and the former warmaster regarded one another in silence, and then Czulkang turned back to the viewport, gazing out the glimmering world of Hapes in the distance.

"Then we should be most cautious," he murmured. "Most cautious indeed."

Harrar could not have agreed more.


	34. Chapter 34

As the last remnants of sleep fell away, the dream began to fade.

Gone were the kind gray eyes and the sad smile, taking with them the blue eyes, as deep and fathomless as the oceans of Mon Calamari, that had kept a loving watch over her as she slept. The warmth of their presence lingered for a long moment, though, as if trying to convey some silent words, as if to will some of their strength to her, and then that, too, melted away like a morning fog.

By the time that she fully awoke, Jaina Solo had forgotten the dream entirely.

Through the small window nearby, sunlight was pouring into the room, bathing her in early morning light, and her eyes fluttered open groggily, squinting at the two suns high up in the sky in the distance, visible through the opening in the wall.

Tatoo One and Tatoo Two, her mind recalled, shrugging off the last vestiges of sleep. They were on Tatooine.

Rolling over so that the window, and the bright suns, were behind her, Jaina let her gaze sweep around the room, taking in her surroundings. Obi-Wan Kenobi's hermitage looked cleaner, somehow, in the morning light, but then again that could very well have been because Kyp had finally stopped grumbling inside of his head and decided to try and straighten the place up a bit.

And speaking of Kyp...

Having already realized that she was alone in bed, their Jedi robes and a few blankets from the ship spread out across the tattered old mattress Kenobi had once slept upon, Jaina reached out with her senses, seeking him out.

Detecting his presence just outside of the small hut, she closed her eyes with a sigh, not yet ready to get up.

It was ironic, but while Kyp had not slept very well the during the night, the harsh winds outside of their door combined with the drastic change in temperature after sunset had woken him up more than once, Jaina had probably had the best night's sleep in years.

_It's something about this place,_ she decided, content to just lie there with the suns' rays streaming in through the small window. _Being here, it just feels right... safe._

It felt like she was home.

For the first time since the strike mission to Myrkr, she had not been haunted by nightmares, by the images of Anakin and Jacen's deaths or the unfaltering grief that constantly threatened to overwhelm her. Her sleep had been practically dreamless, save for a few distorted glimmerings of things she could only vaguely remember, but they had left her with a sense of warm relief that she couldn't quite explain.

Throwing back the blankets, Jaina swung her legs over the side of the bed, calling her tan leggings and sleeveless tunic to her hands with the Force, and dressed quickly, tugging on her boots before heading outside.

As she stepped out the front door, she had to shield her eyes as they adjusted to the harsh suns overhead.

Even before she spotted him, the familiar humming of a lightsaber in the air told her what he was up to, so she leaned against the side of the hut, and watched.

Dressed only in his leggings, chest bare and already glistening slightly in the morning sun, Kyp moved through the patterns of one of the more complicated katas with his eyes closed, his lightsaber cutting graceful arches as the blade wove a web of slow, controlled slashes through the air.

The Force flowed around him, cool and focused, guiding his feet across the sand and his blade around and about his head without the use of his eyes.

Jaina stood there for a long moment, a small smile touching her lips as she admired the sleek rippling of lean muscle and the smooth grace of his movements. There was furious power within this man, barely bridled and controlled, and it hummed around him like some distant melody that only they could hear.

_Well? _Kyp said, without words. _Are you just going to stand there or join me?_

Eyes still closed, he turned in her direction, moving into a dueler's crouch, and held his white-purple blade out in an unspoken challenge.

After a moment of purposeful deliberation, Jaina stepped away from the wall and extended her hand out to the side, calling her own lightsaber from inside of the hut, and the smooth silver pommel found its way directly into her waiting and open palm.

"Care to make a wager?" Kyp asked aloud, opening his eyes to meet her gaze. "If I win, you admit you love me."

Unable to keep from smirking, Jaina raised an eyebrow. "And when you lose?"

"I'm sure we'll figure out a suitable punishment," he retorted with a leering smile that sent a shiver of anticipation through her entire body.

They eyed one another appraisingly for a long moment, waiting to see who would make the first move, and Jaina resolved herself not to be the one to start the attack. Kyp had more experience, and she would need to find her flow in order to disarm him, so it was best to let him strike first.

As if sensing her train of logic, he did just that, pushing her back a step, but she swung her own blade forward to cross his, and pushed back, sliding her blade along his so that he was forced to disengage.

He quickly advanced again, though, darting forward with a quick, feinting lunge, which Jaina leaned away from, then quickly changed directions and lunged for him in return, sweeping her arm up into a rising parry that threw his lightsaber out wide. She twisted her wrist deftly, slicing the blade towards him, but he ducked sideways under her swing, twisting about to come up with his lightsaber ready to block her next slash.

For a long moment they watched each other, anticipating the next strike.

And then they were moving again, nothing but a blur.

Slashing right, Jaina's blade was blocked by Kyp's, so she slashed again, in the opposite direction, leaning into it so that her back leg came up off of the ground. Even as he shifted to attack, she collected her legs under her, following through with her lunge, and sprung into the air, twisting over his head with a high flip.

But Kyp had sensed her intentions, and the moment that the toes of her boots touched the ground, his lightsaber intercepted hers in an over-the-shoulder block.

Gritting her teeth, Jaina pushed hard against his blade, forcing him to spin around lest the momentum send him sprawling. His white-purple lightsaber lashed out at her, and she threw herself back into a one-handed handspring to put some distance between them while she gathered her balance.

"What's the matter, Goddess?" Kyp sneered lightly, green eyes burning with adrenaline. "Not up to the challenge?"

"Please," Jaina scoffed with a snarl, and lunged forward.

She swung her lightsaber left, right and then left again, until Kyp caught her blade with his and drove her back a few steps. A moment later, she returned the favor with venom, pushing him back furiously, and he spun away, leaving a potential opening which she didn't hesitate to pursue, but he managed to block her strike at just the last minute and she realize that he had been baiting her on purpose.

With his weight pressing against their crossed blades, his physical strength quickly overwhelmed her.

Growling under her breath, Jaina jumped back and landed lightly on her toes in a dueler's crouch, her blade cocked over her head and the other hand lifted upward, palm out, inviting him to come and try again.

And he did, but it wasn't what she'd expected.

Rushing her, Kyp broke his charge halfway to throw himself into a flip over her head, and she had to immediately throw herself into a forward roll across the shifting sand to avoid the sudden and sharp flare of his lightsaber in the middle of his flip as it arched downward towards her vulnerable shoulder.

The moment she sprang to her feet again, Jaina whirled to defend herself from Kyp's merciless attack, but she failed to regain her center in time and his booted foot shot out to clip her in the back of the ankle, sending her falling back.

She used her momentum to roll into a backward somersault, sand spilling down her neck, but this time she drew on the Force to leap backwards as soon as she was on her feet again, and Kyp's next swing caught nothing but air and sand as she cleared it by a good two meters.

"Better," Kyp observed with a cool smirk. "But not good enough yet, sweetheart."

And then he pressed forward, alternating between short, choppy strokes and long, flowing slashes to try and distract her balance. He nearly succeeded, simply because his words had caused Jaina to bristle, and she lost a moment of concentration.

_Feel the moment,_ he advised her shortly in the current of the Force, and with a steely tone, not so much with words as with emotions, images, even as he continued to put her on the defensive with his fearsome and barely controlled attack. _I can only surprise you if you let me._

He was right, of course, and it was just another example of why he was the Jedi Master.

Still, that didn't mean Jaina had to liked it, so when she fell into his suggestion, focusing more on her own movements than on his, trusting that the Force would guide her correctly, she was determined to make him regret giving her condescending tips, no matter how helpful they might actually be.

Kyp whirled, lightsaber slashing, but Jaina threw herself into a flip over him, dragging her blade so that he had to bring his own weapon up to protect his head.

The moment she landed, though, she had to lean back at a dangerous ninety-degree angle, lightsaber held straight up above her head, to duck under the near-fatal swing of the white-purple blade in his hands, which passed just inches over her exposed throat.

A whisper of the Force spoke to her, and Jaina snapped forward with her blade crashing down, forcing Kyp to cut his lightsaber back in front of him in order to parry.

When neither blade gained the advantage, Kyp looped his wrists to disengage, emerald eyes never leaving her.

They circled each other like the Tusken wildcats that prowled these sands at dusk, both looking for weaknesses to be exploited, for any opening that might make itself available. Low to the ground in a crouch, her blade held between them, Jaina crossed her legs behind each other as she moved, aware of every grain of sand beneath her boots and every whisper of the wind around them.

When Kyp suddenly darted forward, she spun on her toes, dodging his strike, and ducked under the one immediately following it.

Her own lightsaber arched out around her in a circle, aiming for his knees, and he had to spin low, his blade cutting in front of him to block her sideways attack.

"Not bad for a Jedi princess," Kyp's mocking words were lacking in venom, but they still struck their mark.

"Not bad yourself," Jaina shot back with a cold smile. "For an old man, that is."

Instead of taking offense, Kyp actually chuckled as he pushed hard against their crossed blades, forcing her to spin away, but instead of backing off, he continued to come at her, mimicking her spin, his lightsaber flashing out at her in a blur. She parried the first swing that came close enough, but the second was too low for her to block.

Jumping over it, Jaina sprung into action again the moment her booted feet touched the ground, and lunged forward, hoping to catch him by surprise.

At the last possible moment, though, the Jedi Master leapt backwards at least twenty feet across the sand, and well out of her blade's reach, with the assistance of the Force. He landed lightly enough that he didn't kick up even the faintest cloud of sand, knees bent just a little, with his lightsaber held casually in one hand, and he raised an eyebrow in her direction, a smug little smirk flitting across his lips.

A smirk which she was about to wipe clean off his face.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Jaina took a slow, deep breath, finding her center on the balls of her feet as she let the cool void wash over her, filling her veins with molten durasteel and clearing her mind of all existence save for the sand beneath her feet, and the lightsaber held by the man across from her. Absently, she tossed her own lightsaber lightly from hand to hand, searching for the right moment, the right beat in the soundless music leading them through their dance.

_Now._

Rocking forward onto her toes, she thumbed off her lightsaber, and broke what was usually one of the cardinal rules of a lightsaber duel by hurling her weapon through the air.

Then she broke into a run, aware of Kyp's startled bafflement as she sprinted across the sand, and fell into a double handspring. She used the momentum of the last arch of the second handspring to throw herself into a high, twisting flip, the wind running through her hair.

Her lightsaber landed in her hand in midair, guided by the Force, and the violet blade leapt to life, slashing down at Kyp, who had to jump back in order to block the dangerously close strike with his own lightsaber.

As soon as her feet hit the ground, Jaina spun, bringing her right leg around in a roundhouse kick that was easily dodged, but when her left foot swept out right after it, clipping Kyp in the ankle, the Jedi Master fell back.

Of course, if it was that easy to take out Kyp Durron, he wouldn't have been much of an asset.

Still, at least he wasn't smirking anymore.

Letting her trip send him backwards, Kyp tucked into a clean, tight backflip, made all the more impressive by how low to the sand he had been able to execute it. His white-purple lightsaber flashed towards her, before his feet were even all the way on the ground, and Jaina had to give a sharp twist of her wrists to flick her own blade upward in time to knock his lightsaber away from her throat.

They slashed and parried, cut and blocked, booted feet barely leaving impressions in the sand as they fought.

"Going to have to do better than this, Goddess," Kyp warned her with coolly, and pressed in with sweeping, precise strokes, but he was no longer as confident as he had been moments before. The smug cockiness had been replaced with a bristling anger that almost brought a smile to Jaina's lips as it fueled his every movement.

For the first time, he was beginning to realize that he might actually lose, and he didn't like that in the least.

"How's this, Master?" she sneered with a defiant look, full of cold fire, as she caught his blade with her own and twisted sharply to tangle them together in between them.

Lightsabers locked in a fierce cross, they smirked at each other in perfect unison, neither of them willing to give an inch no matter what.

"Still not good enough, _apprentice_," Kyp replied smoothly, emphasizing the title they both knew she had long since outgrown, and pushed their weapons closer to her chest, sliding his white-purple blade along hers just inches from her shoulder.

The searing heat from the two lightsabers stung her exposed arms, little pinpricks of fire erupting across her skin, but Jaina merely ignored it and pressed her blade closer to Kyp's.

A sharp flicker of her wrists later, and it was now Jaina's blade sliding along Kyp's, moving across his bare chest, their tangled blades close enough that their glowing shadow fell across his skin, illuminating the small beads of sweat gathered there.

Hissing slightly as the blades came a touch too close, Kyp mimicked her own technique and twisted his wrists just as she had, only much harder, anger putting extra strength behind it.

Now his lightsaber was the dominate one, and it crackled ravenously along the length of her own violet one as it passed over her stomach, the heat warming her skin painfully right through her clothes. Unable to keep from grimacing, Jaina scowled at the smirk that crossed Kyp's lips at the sight of it.

_Smirk all you kriffing want, Durron,_ she thought with a low growl in her throat. _I'm going to rip cut it right off of your face one of these days._

_I'd like to see you try, _Kyp's voice mocked across their rapport.

With their lightsabers dipped downward now, though, neither of them had a good angle from which to strike.

Spinning to the right, Jaina was startled to find that Kyp had pulled the same maneuver at exactly the same moment, and as they paused, backs pressed together, a burst of bitter, ironic laughter carried across their rapport from both of them.

_Interesting,_ Jaina noted to herself with detached irritation.

There was, it seemed, a slight disadvantage to the powerful bond between them in the Force that she had not thought of until now. Such closeness, such intertwining, made it nearly impossible for either of them to best the other since Kyp knew what she was going to do as soon as she did, and vice versa.

She would have to keep that in mind in the future.

Whirling back to her left, Jaina swung hard, only to find her lightsaber once again locked with Kyp's.

Through their rapport, they shared another brief flicker of bitter, cool amusement, as they stood there, blades crossed, so close that they were breathing the same air. Both of them pressed into the parry relentlessly, with blazing fury, but neither was able to gain any ground, and neither was willing to give.

"Surrender," Kyp advised with a cold smirk, emerald eyes dark and burning.

"Not unless you surrender first," Jaina sneered, practically trembling with adrenaline. "A goddess never loses."

"We'll see about that," he murmured smugly, and she prepared herself for another surprise attack.

One came, of course, but it caught her completely off-guard.

Before she even had time to blink, much less comprehend what was happening, Kyp's head was tilting down over their crossed blades, and given how close their faces had already been, in less than a second, he had captured her lips in a long, slow kiss that took her by surprise.

After a moment's hesitation, her lightsaber fell lifelessly to the sand at her feet.

Despite that, she felt a flicker of triumph when Kyp's fingers uncurled from around his own weapon at the same time, which landed right next to hers in the sand. That triumph faded quickly, though, as she got caught up in the kiss, her arms snaking up around Kyp's neck as his fingers entangled themselves in her hair.

"Looks like it's a draw," Kyp murmured against her lips.

"I can live with that," Jaina gasped softly, returning his kiss with fervor.

It wasn't until the distant roar of a krayt dragon, somewhere out hunting its prey deeper into the heart of the Western Dune Sea, carried along on the wind that they broke apart.

"Somebody's hungry," Jaina observed,

"He's not the only one," Kyp replied, calling their lightsabers up from the sand and holding hers out to her. "I'm so famished that even those rations bars are starting to sound good right about now."

"You could always take your X-wing out to Beggar's Canyon and try to kill us a womp rat," Jaina told him, with an innocent smile that was ruined by the wicked, vaguely malicious gleam in her dark eyes. "Uncle Luke gave me a great recipe."

Kyp grimaced, a visible shudder passing through his lean body. "You're sithly, do you know that?"

"Mmm," Jaina mused, tapping her finger against his chest. "And you like it, mortal."

Without waiting for a reply, she turned back towards Kenobi's hut, and Kyp followed her inside, grabbing a towel from his pack by the door as she rummaged through the rations box they'd lugged inside the night before, looking for any sign of something remotely edible.

"We should have chosen a world with diners," Kyp commented grumpily, dropping down onto one of the closed boxes and using it as a chair. "I could have been feasting on iagoin steak or nerf strips for breakfast."

"Quit complaining," Jaina retorted, rolling her eyes. "You're worse than Jacen with all that whining."

Through the Force, she felt Kyp start, and his gaze fell on her, filled with anxiety and tentative concern, expecting her to shut down after mentioning her brother's name. But, to her surprise as much as his, that didn't happen this time, and Jaina paused, her hand still buried in rations, to note with a sort of numb wonder that this was the first time she had been able to speak about one of her brothers without it tearing her apart inside.

There was still grief, and pain, mingled with anger so deep and so cold that it chilled her very being, but it didn't hit her full-force the way it had in the past.

She'd grown so accustomed to that feeling, to that state of being, that she no longer noticed it.

And that meant the pain no longer paralyzed her.

No longer weakened her.

A strange ripple seeped through the Force, bringing with it the impression of a large void rushing toward her, and despite herself, Jaina shivered.

"I felt it, too," Kyp assured her grimly.

"We need to get to work laying our traps," Jaina told him, pushing aside the lingering unease. "The Yuuzhan Vong are on their way, they must have finally picked up the Trickster's signal."

"We'll be ready for them," Kyp replied confidently, rising to his feet. "The Vong won't know what hit them."

"No," Jaina agreed quietly, a cold smile etching itself onto her lips. "They won't."

After all, the Yuuzhan Vong were expecting to find a Jedi trickster here in the desolate sands of Tatooine.

Instead, they would find a goddess.


	35. Chapter 35

High overhead, thousands of distant stars were visible against the dark canvas of the night sky.

It was surprisingly peaceful on Borleias, especially considering the chaos that they had dropped into the middle of upon their arrival. But Wedge Antilles was such a great commander that even when he'd been attempting to lose a battle to make the Vong in the system complacent, he'd still somehow managed a victory. There would be a stronger enemy fleet coming now, with a better Yuuzhan Vong commander who would be more difficult to defeat, but for now those occupying the base on Borleias were enjoying a momentary lull in the war.

The pilots were still spending long hours in the sims, the scientists were still working into all hours of the night trying to find new ways to combat the enemy's weaponry, and the Insiders were still meeting in secret to plan their next moves, but there was a feeling of quiet now that had been rare even before the fall of Coruscant.

Standing at the large transparisteel that stretched across the wall of the main chamber of her quarters, Leia Organa Solo sighed, her arms wrapped around herself.

Somewhere out there, among all those stars, was her son.

It didn't escape her attention that everyone, her own brother and her husband included, thought she was in denial, that losing Anakin had made her unable to accept the loss of her oldest son, as well, but she didn't hold it against them. In their shoes, she probably would have thought the same thing, especially since Jaina, who had been connected to Jacen since before birth, perhaps since conception, did not have even a shred of belief, of hope, that her twin was still somehow alive.

But Leia knew that Jacen was not dead.

She couldn't explain how she knew, it was just an instinct, a feeling, really. When Anakin, her baby, had fallen aboard the worldship over Myrkr, she had felt it, even all the way on Coruscant, and it had driven her to her knees, shredding her sanity and her heart into a thousand tiny pieces. It had been as if the Yuuzhan Vong had reached deep into the very center of her being, with their gnarled, jagged hands, and ripped her son out of her, leaving a gaping would that would never fully heal.

Then there had been Jacen, whose presence had surged across the Force brilliantly, only to fade away sharply a moment later, filling her with a profound sense of emptiness.

But it had not been the same.

With Anakin, she had felt the last spark of life leave his body, she had felt him _die_, but it had not been so with Jacen. In the Force, where stars were born and stars died out, she knew that her oldest boy's star still shone, it had just been hidden by a veil she couldn't penetrate.

And so she kept a silent vigil, ever constant and never wavering, waiting for her son to come home.

Waiting for both her children to come home.

Somewhere out there, just as lost to her as Jacen, was her only daughter, but it was not the little girl she remembered, nor the battle-hardened Jedi pilot who had gone to Myrkr with her brothers.

No, that girl was gone now, and in her place was a powerful storm of rage and grief, as cold to the touch as the snowy landscape of Hoth, but still as molten and fiery as the lava flows on Sullest. Unlike with Jacen, Leia could still sense Jaina in the Force, could still reach and out feel that her little girl was alive somewhere, but she no longer recognized the once vibrant, brilliant presence of her daughter.

Instead, recollections of how she'd perceived the Emperor, and her own father before Luke had been able to save him from the darkness, came to mind, and she could not help shuddering.

Jaina, beautiful, brave, compassionate Jaina, had let the darkness swallow her whole.

It was still so hard to comprehend, to understand how everything had gone so wrong. All three of her children were gone, and Leia could not help but blame herself. For most of their childhood, she had never been around very much, her duties to the New Republic had kept her away, leaving the kids in the care of either Winter or Chewbacca on some distant safeworld, or shipping them off to Yavin Four to Luke.

As guilty as she had felt for her absence, she had consoled herself with the knowledge that they were safe and happy as long as they had each other, and every year she had vowed that the next year she would work a little less and make more time for her family.

By the time that she had finally retired as Chief-of-State, her babies had already been out of the Academy and apprenticed to Luke and Mara respectively, well on their way to becoming full Jedi Knights and adults in their own right. Her duty had forced her to miss out on so much, as Jaina had hurled at her often during her turbulent teen years, and when she'd finally had the time for them, she'd found they no longer needed her.

And now Anakin was dead, Jacen was missing, and Jaina had turned her back on the Jedi teachings, choosing instead to follow in her grandfather's footsteps by letting pain and despair lead her down a path that would inevitably destroy her in the end.

She had failed them, so many times over, and now there would never be a chance to make it up to them.

"Leia?"

Tearing her gaze away from the stars overhead, Leia turned to find her brother had moved up behind her, and gave him a weak smile. "I'm all right, Luke," she assured him, sensing his concern singing within her own soul. "I was just..."

Luke nodded, understanding even without her saying the words.

It had always been like that between them, even before they'd discovered their heritage. Sometimes it baffled Leia how she never saw it back during their days with the Rebellion, when they had the same nose, the same shape of their eyes, when everything inside of Luke mirrored what was inside of her.

From the very start, that night on Endor when he'd revealed the truth to her, she had always wondered what her life would have been like if they had grown up together, what she would have been like. It had taken her time to adjust to the knowledge that their father had been Darth Vader, to see past the armor and find the good man he'd once been and had been again at the end of his life, but in time she had come to accept him, even love him. The only memories she had of him were as Darth Vader, save for the one time he had appeared to her on Bakura begging for forgiveness, but somehow that didn't really matter.

She knew Anakin Skywalker, because she saw him in Luke, and in herself, and now in the children.

And once upon a time, he had been a young, dashing, brave and idealistic Jedi Knight, who had fallen madly in love with their mother, whoever she had been.

All that was left of that forbidden, star-crossed love now was their children, and their children's children, but it was a legacy that Leia was proud to carry, and one that she was content knowing would live on when the twins and Ben had children of their own.

_What would you do, Father, _she wondered. _If you were in my shoes?_

Would he have gone off to Coruscant searching for Jacen, despite the visions that showed her nothing but death and destruction waiting for her there? Would he have tracked Jaina down and confronted the darkness consuming her head on?

Or would he trust them to find their way back on their own?

"We have to trust in the Force," Luke told her gently, picking up on her train of thought. "And we have to have faith that, somehow, Jaina will find the light again."

"I know," Leia replied quietly, although it was hard to admit that out loud, to voice what she knew in her heart but didn't want to face. "Everything inside of me wants to go to her, but the Force is telling me that I can't, or it will only push her further away from us. That this is Jaina's trial and no one else can interfere."

"It's telling me the same thing," Luke murmured.

Turning to look at her brother, Leia took in the tired, weary set of his jaw, the dull blue of his lowered eyes, the droop of his mouth, and she loved him all the more for how deeply he loved her daughter and her sons. The loss of her children had hit him just as hard, for he had been there as a third parent since the day they were born, he had been there when duty had kept her and Han away.

He had been the one to train them as Jedi, to instill the basic moralities and ethics during their early years, and she knew that he blamed himself for it all, for sending them to Myrkr, where both of her sons had failed to return from, and where Jaina had become lost to them, and lost to the light.

"None of this is your fault, Luke," she told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You are not to blame."

When Luke didn't reply, she turned fully and pressed herself against him, seeking solace for the both of them in the only haven that had never faltered, even when all others had. Her twin's arms came up to enfold her in a fierce, but gentle embrace, and they stood like that for a long while, leaning into each other for strength and support, on more than just a physical level.

Laughter from the lower section of the main room interrupted the moment, and Leia sighed.

"We should join them," she decided, begrudgingly pulling out of her brother's arms. "Han and I are leaving in a few hours to take the kids to Shelter, and you should be spending every second of the time you have with Ben, not in here fussing over me."

"I'm supposed to be fussing over you," Luke assured her, lifting his thumb to gently wipe away a tear that she hadn't even known had fallen through her lashes. "It's in the job description as your twin."

"Job, huh?" Leia echoed, swatting him lightly in the arm.

"It's hard work," Luke responded with a small grin. "But somebody's got to do it."

Chuckling, Leia wrapped her arm around his waist, leaning her head on his shoulder, and they moved away from the transparisteel, coming down the few steps dividing the two levels of the main room to rejoin their family.

On the couch, Han sat with an arm draped around the back of the couch, talking animatedly to Tahiri about some crazy adventure he'd had in his youth, and the young Jedi was actually smiling faintly as she listened, captivated, and perhaps hearing an echo of Anakin in his father's voice, in those expressive features.

Mara was bouncing little Ben on her knee across from them, eliciting giggles from the infant child.

Despite the weariness in her soul, Leia smiled at the sight of her sister-in-law with her nephew. Only a few years ago, it had seemed like am impossible dream that Mara might one day have a child of her own, the Yuuzhan Vong disease that Nom Anor had exposed her to was ravaging her system so badly Leia had been afraid that Luke would end up a widower mourning his brave wife's memory.

But now here they were, Mara cured and with her beautiful little boy in her arms.

"And then I blasted through the entire blockade at a rush," Han was concluding with a roguish grin. "Not even a scratch on the _Falcon_."

"Ignore your Uncle Han, baby," Mara instructed Ben, without looking up. "We all know how he likes to embellish things."

Han gestured to himself with a look of mock innocence, and Tahiri giggled softly.

Hearing her laugh, Leia exchanged a look with Luke, both of them relieved to see the young Jedi beginning to heal after Anakin's death had torn her apart. Tahiri's laughter had an affect on the entire room, as Mara finally looked up from focusing on Ben, smiling sadly at the girl, and bittersweet emotion showed in Han's eyes, full of affection for the girl that their son had loved.

It had been far too long since they'd heard Tahiri laugh, not since her shaping on Yavin Four.

The girl had endured such horrors there, such unimaginable pains and violations, and yet she was still standing, still as defiant in the face of her former captors as ever, even if some of the vivacious spirit had dimmed within her.

At the funeral for Anakin on Hapes, Tahiri had been so lost, staring into the flames like a wraith, a mere shadow of the girl she'd once been, and it had taken Leia's hand on her shoulder to pull her back, to anchor her to reality again. Leia felt that same urge now, to go to this child who the Yuuzhan Vong had turned into an adult much too young, to pull her into her arms and embrace her, to never let her go.

This time, though, it was not despair that fueled that urge, but hope.

Seeing Tahiri's strength, seeing the quiet determination to keep going, for Anakin's sake, in his memory, gave Leia the strength to do the same, and allowed her to hope that one day Jaina, too, would find that same strength within herself.

As if baffled as to why the attention was no longer focused on him, little Ben reached out his chubby hands towards his father, whimpering, and Luke smiled, moving to his wife's side and crouching down to tickle their son beneath the chin. "What are you up to, little guy?" he asked lightly.

"He's practicing his methods of getting attention," Mara declared wryly, letting Luke lift Ben up into his own arms. "He thinks he's going to have Aunt Leia and Uncle Han wrapped around his little finger on the way to the Maw."

Though the comment was made jokingly, Leia did not miss the twinge of anguish beneath the surface, and she laid a hand on her sister-in-law's now empty hands. "The sad thing is," she retorted with a rueful smile. "That he's probably right about that."

Mara looked up at her with a weak smile, and Leia squeezed her hand, willing some of her strength and love to her sister-in-law through the Force.

In a few hours, Leia and Han would be leaving for the Maw, to take Kam and Tionne to the hidden installation there, so they could keep the younger Jedi students, those who had not yet reached apprentice level or whose Masters had not survived this long in the war, safe and far away from the Yuuzhan Vong's reach. It had been decided that they would also take the children of allies like Wedge and Iella Antilles along to Shelter, since there were very few safe havens left in the galaxy these days.

It wasn't going to be easy for any of them to be separated from their children for such a long, uncertain period of time, but it would be especially hard on Mara and Luke, with little Ben being so young, and the loss of Anakin lingering fresh in all of their minds.

Leia knew that pain firsthand, having experienced it with her own children.

As hard as it would be to say good-bye to Ben, it really was the only choice that her brother and his wife could make, unless they wanted to go hide out with him at Shelter, and that wasn't even remotely an option.

They still had a war to fight, a war that they had to win, or else Ben's future, and the future of all children, would be lost.

And soon after the Jedi children were seen safely to the Maw, Luke and Mara would be leaving on a mission of their own, one no less important. With a team that included a few Wraiths, Danni Quee and Tahiri, they would be going right into the heart of enemy territory, returning to the newly conquered Coruscant, to seek out some unknown dark side threat there.

Not even Luke knew what was waiting for them once they reached the fallen capitol, but they all knew that this new dark power that had been awakened there was far too dangerous to go unchecked.

No one had said it, but it was there just the same.

The fear that one day, a similar strike might have to be mounted against Jaina.

Now it was Mara who squeezed Leia's hand, and, pushing the dread aside, Leia smiled weakly, hoping there weren't tears welling in her eyes. "I'm supposed to be doing the comforting here," she chastised.

"We can comfort each other," Mara responded, not letting go. "I'm sorry, Leia. I feel like I've let you down somehow."

"Don't be ridiculous," Leia said, and she meant it with all her heart. "I've already told Luke off for blaming himself, don't make me do the same with you. None of this is anyone's fault. Not Jacen's disappearance, not Anakin's death."

There was a flicker of grief all around, and Tahiri seemed to shrink in on herself for a moment before Han ruffled her hair to shake her out of it, earning a faint, slightly forced smile from the girl in return.

"And you in no way contributed to Jaina's fall," Leia insisted quietly, her eyes boring into Mara's green ones. "You did all you could for her, Mara, and you taught her so much. It was your teachings that kept her alive through this war, that kept her from burning out like so many others have." The tears that had slipped unnoticed into her eyes fell freely now, but without grief. "And I am so grateful to you."

"That goes double for me," Han cleared his throat, and there was a slight catch as he spoke. "You and Luke, you turned our brats into Jedi, made them into who they were and..."

"And we love you," Tahiri concluded softly, a bit timidly, as if she wasn't sure she was allowed to finish his thought.

"Yeah," Han agreed, flashing a cocky smile that was lacking the usual bravado. "What she said."

"As we love all of you," Luke replied, pointedly looking at Tahiri as he said those words, words that he knew she desperately needed to hear these days.

Sensing something he wasn't saying, Leia looked hard at her brother, trying to figure out what he was hiding, or rather, what he was hesitant to reveal. As if he could feel her eyes boring into him, which he probably could, Luke gave a heavy sigh and looked back at her, his eyes, their father's eyes, full of regret and apology.

"What is it?" Leia asked, her voice remarkably steady.

Instantly, all eyes were on Luke, even little Ben's, who stared up at his father from Luke's arms with wide gray eyes.

"I spoke with Tenel Ka this afternoon through a secure channel to Hapes," Luke responded seriously. "After hearing about everything that happened there from Lowbacca, I wanted to speak to her about her role as regent, and to tell her that Cilghal has agreed to travel to Hapes in order to see what she can do to help speed up Teneniel Djo's recovery."

"And?" Mara asked, and from the way she narrowed her eyes, it was clear she hadn't heard any of this yet either.

"And, she had quite a few things to add to Lowie's report," Luke said wearily, handing Ben back to her, much to the baby's confusion as he watched his father with an intensity that would have startled Leia, had she not seen it many times in her own children, even at that young of an age. "Officially, she reported that Ta'a Chume was behind the assasination attempt on her mother's life, and that Ta'a Chume was executed for her crimes by palace security."

"She's covering it up?" Leia asked, mildly alarmed.

"Not exactly," Luke replied slowly, with careful deliberation. "By Hapan laws, Jaina didn't commit murder, she disposed of a traitor. There isn't any crime there for Tenel Ka to cover up. She did, however, neglect to explain the nature of Ta'a Chume's death."

Something profoundly sorrowful behind his words struck Leia deeply, and her breath caught in her throat even as Mara asked the question she didn't want to know the answer to.

"How did she die?"

Luke hesitated, looking down at his hands for a brief moment, as if they could give him an answer, as if they could take the burden from his shoulders, and then he drew a slow, determined breath, and raised his head to look directly at Leia, the rest of the room fading away.

"Ta'a Chume was asphyxiated with the Force," Luke whispered, his eyes never leaving hers.

Closing her eyes, Leia felt her heart sink further than she'd imagined possible, beyond her feet, beyond her toes, slipping from her body as if she was being drained of her very life.

It was every nightmare she had ever had since the night Luke had revealed their parentage, the very reason she had been frightened to have children before that trip to Tatooine with Han shortly after their marriage. A child of her blood, a child of Skywalker blood, had followed in her father's footsteps.

And the galaxy would suffer because of it.

The room was full of emotion after Luke's pronouncement, and her own fears, so closely intertwined with Luke's, mingled with Tahiri's dread, Mara's bitter regret about not sticking around on Hapes, and Han's dull, throbbing ache of disappointment and anguished terror.

"There's more," Luke said thickly, and someone groaned. "It won't be easy to hear."

"Kid, my daughter, the oldest grandchild of Darth Vader, has essentially decided she wants to carry on Grandpa's legacy, and she's seduced Kyp, the kid who destroyed Carida the last time he fell, back to the dark side," Han pointed out darkly, too much emotion tangled up inside of him to be clearly defined. "How could it get any worse?"

Oh, don't ask that, Han, Leia thought, finally understanding what had Luke so on edge, courtesy of Han's own unknowing words. Don't ask.

"From what Tenel Ka observed while they were on Hapes, and from what my own feelings tell me, I think that Kyp and Jaina's relationship..." Luke trailed off, clearly uncomfortable, and in any other situation, Leia might have smiled, seeing how unsettled her brother truly was by this development. "That is, I think that since we left Hapes, the two of them have become... well, intimate."

Despite all the reasons this was not good news, that it could only bring about terrible results given the current state of mind of her daughter and the young Jedi Master, Leia found she wasn't all that surprised. Maybe the Force had been giving her the same subtle hints that it had Luke, or maybe she'd just always known the path that Kyp and Jaina would one day take together, no matter how much she may have wished otherwise.

After all, hadn't she specifically requested, in the message she left for Kyp while he was on Gallinore with Jaina, that the young Jedi Master look after her daughter?

And it was impossible to deny that Leia had set a standard for choosing older men.

Seized with a sudden dread of how Han would react, she slowly looked over at her husband, expecting to find him either pale and about to faint, or livid with a blaster already in hand, ready to shoot at anything that got in his way. Instead, she was taken aback to find that he was still seated on the couch, having apparently taken the news calmly, albeit unhappily, given the troubled expression on his face.

"You're just figuring now that out, kid?" Han asked Luke sarcastically, voice rough with weary emotion.

Startled, Leia looked at him in disbelief, and a touch of horrified wonder. "You already knew?"

"Knew, no," Han said with a bitter shrug. "Suspected... I've seen the way Kyp looks at her when he thinks no one is looking, sweetheart, and no one can deny there's always been fire between them."

"You're taking this well," Leia observed, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "Almost too well."

Han sighed, running a hand through his graying hair. "Look, Leia, I'm not saying I'm happy about this, okay?" he said shortly, and that was definitely an understatement, given the jumbled feelings she perceived within him. "Do you think I like knowing that Kyp and Jaina... that the kid and my little girl...?" He couldn't bring himself to say it apparently, and scowled darkly. "If I saw Kyp right now, I'd probably shoot him, and where it counts."

"But?"

"But I'm tired, Leia," Han replied, and she could hear the exhaustion in his voice, could feel it in the Force. "I'm tired and my heart hurts, and Jaina's pushed everyone away from her- everyone except for Kyp. Whatever I feel about the two of them being... whatever they are, at least Jaina's got someone. At least she's not alone. Because right now she's more lost than she's ever been in her entire life, I don't need the Force to know that, and, well, I can tell you from experience that being alone right now is the last thing she needs."

That, Leia had to concede, was impossible to deny.

"Besides, I know the kid tried," Han added somberly. "He saw Jaina was in trouble and he did everything he could to pull her back out. Maybe it didn't work, maybe it only made things even worse in the end, but... he tried to save her, and that's go to count for something, right?"

For a moment, they all just stared at him in silence, each privately wondering who this impostor was and what he'd done with the real Han Solo, and then Luke chuckled softly, shaking his head. "Sometimes you truly amaze me, old friend," he told Han with a smile, and Leia had to agree.

"Just sometimes?" her husband retorted, with a lopsided smirk.

To let him know just how amazing she really thought he was, Leia crossed the space between them and leaned down to kiss him. "Always, you nerf-herder," she assured him thickly, smiling even as her eyes shimmered with wetness. "Always."


	36. Chapter 36

Strategy came naturally to most Jedi.

It was something to do with the Force, or so Kyp Durron had surmised over the years, but then there were the Jedi who were gifted with a complex battle-mind, able to see pieces of the puzzle that seemingly held no value at first, and plan several moves all at once, without ever breaking concentration from their current task.

Like her younger brother Anakin, Jaina possessed that remarkable skill.

At the Academy, her fellow Jedi students had often followed her lead, particularly during those crazy, dangerous adventures they'd had in their youth, but Kyp had never really noticed the capacity for tactical brilliance until Hapes, when he'd witnessed the way that she employed psychological warfare as an active extension of her already impressive ability to see every possibility during a battle.

It was, he was certain, something that she had inherited from her grandfather.

_One of many things she inherited from him, anyway,_ Kyp thought grimly, glancing at his companion out of the corner of his eye and taking in the distant, cool expression on her face as she stood with her eyes closed, facing into the wind, listening and feeling.

Waiting.

Everything else had been taken care of, all aspects of the plan evaluated and put into place, every possible surprise twist the Yuuzhan Vong might throw at them already taken into account.

Now all they had to do was wait, and the enemy would come to them.

And while it may have appeared that Jaina was simply resting for a moment, drawing on the Force to clam her for the coming fight, Kyp knew that was about as far from the truth as possible.

Jaina was in goddess mode.

That both comforted and worried him, because while Jaina was truly at her best, in her element, when she was playing the role of Yun-Harla, the Trickster charade placed her in even worse danger than she would have been in otherwise.

Kyp knew that she could take care of herself, he'd learned that the hard way, but it didn't keep him from worrying.

The Yuuzhan Vong were beset with capturing Jaina, to the point of fanatical obsession, and there were no limits to how far they would go to get to her. It didn't matter how many warriors had to do in the process, they would keep coming and coming until they succeeded, because it was more than just the twin sacrifice Tsavong Lah had called for motivating them now, it had become personal.

Jaina had made it personal by mocking their gods.

And while she was determined to rip the Yuuzhan Vong empire into shreds if it was the last thing she ever did, Kyp was all too aware of the disconcerting emptiness that still resided within her. The black hole that swirled, ominous and ever ready to swallow her life right out from under her.

Anakin and Jacen were both dead, and Jaina wanted nothing more than to be with them.

It wasn't a new realization, Kyp had come to understand just how deep that longing inside of her went some time ago, before everything had exploded on Hapes, and it twisted his heart that the woman he loved wanted to die.

So he had resolved himself to making sure he gave her a kriffing good reason to live.

In the distance, there was suddenly a great commotion, and the sounds of battle drifted back to his ears on the mild wind, his hearing enhanced through the Force.

Kyp glanced over at Jaina, whose eyes were still closed, but there was now a small, grim smile etched across her lips.

"The trap worked," he murmured in observation.

Instead of replying, she merely nodded her agreement, and together they looked out into the distance, seeing the gruesome scene unfolding more with the Force than with their own eyes.

At first, Kyp had not understood the logic behind Jaina's decision to plan their attack within the borders of Tusken Raider territory, but it hadn't taken long for him to see what her intentions were. The Yuuzhan Vong had brought a large legion of ground troops into the desert sands to take her by Force, and it wouldn't hurt to have some help culling their numbers before the real fighting began.

By setting the trap in Tusken territory, she had been counting on the fact that the Sand People were notorious about protecting their clans, viciously so, and that knowledge was paying off now big time.

The warriors had been ambushed by a large tribe of Tuskens, who had watched the outsiders from the towering, jagged sandstone cliffs overhead as they drew closer and closer to the campsite where the women and children dwelled, before jumping down to take the Vong by surprise. That advantage had allowed them to take down quite a few warriors, but Kyp knew the Vong would overwhelm them soon enough.

If not by superior skill and strength, then by sheer numbers alone.

After all, even with forty Tuskens, the two hundred Yuuzhan Vong warriors would slaughter their attackers as soon as they recovered from the surprise of being ambushed and got their bearings back.

Not for the first time, he wondered if Jaina had somehow used the Force to compel them into attacking.

It wouldn't have surprised him, he'd certainly seen her do things just as ambiguous, if not worse, in the past month or so since Myrkr. There was an endless list of incidents that he had no desire to relive, but after Ta'a Chume's death, he no longer underestimated what Jaina was capable of.

On Hapes, Jaina had agreed to be his apprentice, but they both knew now that role was over.

Now they were partners, equals, and if there was any teaching to be done, any lessons to be imparted, it would be a mutual experience.

And the kind of lessons Jaina might have in store for him sent a shiver through him, but whether it was of dread and fear, or anticipation, he couldn't really say, and so he tried not to dwell on more than necessary.

Besides, he had nicer things to occupy his thoughts these days.

The time had passed quickly since leaving Hapes, but never had Kyp felt more at ease. With Jaina by his side, he felt as if nothing could touch him, as if the entire galaxy was just an afterthought.

Here in the desert wastelands of Tatooine, there was no one for miles, and for the first time he knew what it was like to find true solitude, with only Jaina's brilliant presence to fill his time and his thoughts. It was an incredible sensation in the Force, the two of them alone in the midst of a great stretch of nothing but sand, and it wasn't something he would easily give up.

If it had been up to Kyp, they would have stayed there, in Kenobi's tattered old hut, in the middle of this scorched, merciless sea of sand, forever.

All he needed was Jaina.

A tingle crept up his spine, and the Force whispered a warning as the Yuuzhan Vong finished dispatching the last of the Tusken Raiders, driving right through the campsite and eliminating the women and children, and started to march again, heading in their direction.

"Incoming," he murmured aloud.

_I can see that, _Jaina replied, through their rapport.

_Ready?_ Kyp inquired, switching to her mode of communication.

_Please, I'm always ready,_ Jaina scoffed, looking over at him with eyebrows raised in challenge. _The real question is are you ready?_

_Anything you can handle,_ Kyp assured her dryly._ I can handle, Goddess._ she retorted.

You sure about that?

_I'm not even going to dignify that with a response,_ he growled.

_Just try not to get yourself killed, all right, old man? _Jaina said with a smirk.

_Old man? _Kyp echoed incredulously, and bristled irritably at the insinuation. _It's not exactly like I'm robbing the hovercraddle here, sweetheart._she told him smugly, as the Vong appeared in sight, marching determinedly in their direction. _The Goddess is working._

Not now, mortal,

Kyp gave her a dark look and she just batted her eyelashes seductively, before turning her attention back to the approaching horde of Yuuzhan Vong. With one last little glare at her, Kyp did the same, and watched at the Vong came to a halt suddenly, surprise written all over the faces of those in the front line.

The warriors looked around in bafflement, clearly stunned not the see the _Trickster_ anywhere in sight when it had been the living ship's gravitic signal that lead them here to this spot, and with no sign of the frigate, low murmurs of 'Yun-Harla' began to ripple through the troops.

Despite himself, Kyp smirked at what they foolishly mistook as divine trickery.

Of course, they weren't entitled to the knowledge of the gravitic repulsor hidden in the sand about twenty feet away, so he supposed that one couldn't really blame the Vong for their gullibility.

Through the crowd of warriors came a tall, bulky figure with a surprisingly human-shape forehead, covered in hideous scars.

"I am called Charat Kraal," the warrior spoke gravely. "I have been commissioned to oversee your capture, _Jeedai_ Solo, by the great Czulkang Lah, father of-"

"Father of Tsavong Lah, former Warmaster of the Yuuzhan Vong," Jaina cut him off impatiently, rolling her eyes as if he was wasting her divine time more and more with every word he spoke. "Yes, yes, I know perfectly well who he is, you pathetic excuse for a Yuuzhan Vong."

Startled, Kyp had to prevent himself from looking to her at that, for it wouldn't do to show a mere Jedi Master taken aback by a supposed goddess' omnipotency, but he made a mental note to ask her just when she'd done that bit of research on Tsavong Lah's family while they were on Hapes, or if it was something Lowie discovered for her.

Charat Kraal looked, to his amusement, simultaneously surprised that Jaina knew this, and outraged by her insult.

Something dark flickered in his eyes, and for a moment Kyp half expected him to reach for his amphistaff, but the warrior seemed to remember that was not an option with Jaina because of the sacrifice Tsavong Lah had demanded, not if he wanted to continue to live.

"You are trapped, _Jeedai_ Solo," Charat Kraal announced with a smug sneer. "Surrender now, and your comrade's death with be quick and painless."

"I thought you Vong were big on pain?" Jaina retorted, smiling mockingly. "Perhaps that is why the gods smile upon the infidels instead, because you shy away from it so easily in the end."

This time, Charat Kraal did reach for his weapon, and drew it, then stopped abruptly, taking deep, shuddering breaths as he fought to regain his composure again. "Your blasphemous tongue will not lead me to dishonor myself," he spat coldly, then addressed the warriors under his command. "Take her, but do not forget the Warmaster calls for her alive. Kill the other."

_Kill the other?_ Kyp echoed incredulously across his rapport to Jaina.

_Maybe I should have introduced you,_ she mused, chuckling darkly. _Oh, well, I'm certain after today no Yuuzhan Vong will ever forget your name, lover. You'll be as infamous to them as you are to the rest of the galaxy for being the Destroyer of Worlds._ Kyp smirked.

Infamous, huh?

He kind of liked the sound of that.

At Charat Kraal's command, the swarm of Yuuzhan Vong began to move forward, and Kyp tensed, preparing for the coming onslaught.

_Wait for it,_ Jaina advised coolly. _Wait... now!_

Reaching out with the Force, together they grabbed hold of a dozen of the landmines buried in the sand around them and hurled them straight at the mass of Yuuzhan Vong warriors.

The mines slammed into the Vong's front line, and the impact triggered the explosives, erupting in a screaming ball of ravenous flames that devoured every warrior in its path. Heat and fire scorched the barren sand, and charred pieces of voodum crab armor, burnt flesh still attached, rained down upon the desolate wastelands.

Peering through the haze and the cloud of billowing smoke and dying flames, Kyp was pleased to note that a very large portion of the Yuuzhan Vong forces were no longer there, save for the remains scattered about everywhere.

Still others were injured, burned and hollowing, missing limbs.

But there was still enough standing, whole and armed, to be of concern.

After all, not even the best of Jedi could take out hundreds of Yuuzhan Vong at once on their own, not without some assistance.

Calling on the Force, Kyp summoned another batch of hidden detonators from beneath the sand and threw them at the Vong in quick succession. By now, the warriors were figuring out what was going on, although they still had no idea where the weapons, moving at such speed that they were little more than a blur even to a Jedi's eyes, were coming from.

And that only furthered their already considerable panic, and he didn't need the Force to pick up on the terror flooding through them.

Jaina joined her efforts with his, and the two of them worked in silent, rhythmic and perfect unison, peppering the swarm of warriors with one round of explosives after the other. Every time warriors fell, screaming and mutilated by the blast, another wave would surge forward, only to meet the same fate.

Charat Kraal was shouting, barking out orders, most likely trying to regain some control over his troops, but no one could hear him over the roar of the explosions and the frantic, chaotic shouting of Yuuzhan Vong agony.

In the Force, the looming void of nothingness began to shrink, growing smaller and smaller with each passing second.

Until it was little more than a nagging whisper.

_Last of this batch, _Jaina informed him. _Make it count, but leave Charat Kraal for me._ Kyp agreed grimly.

I'll try,

_Do or do not, _Jaina laughed, full of dark exhilaration. _There is no try!_

The corners of Kyp's mouth lifted of their own accord into a nasty smirk, imagining what the great Yoda would have had to say about his words of wisdom being applied to such a task.

With a twist of the Force, the last of the buried landmines soared across the sky at blinding speed, plowing into what was left of the Yuuzhan Vong legions, and a shockwave of searing heat and merciless light ripped through the air, almost unbearable at the close range, and yet none of it even came close to touching either of them.

When the smoke cleared, there were only three warriors still on their feet.

Three out of two hundred.

And the three standing stumbled, falling lifeless to the sand only a few moments later.

All the rest were scattered across the sand, a foul and gruesome scene the likes of which Kyp only wished that Shimrra himself were here to see, so that the Supreme Overlord of the Yuuzhan Vong would know the fear that now filled his warriors to the point of paralysis as they took it all in disbelief.

The air was thick with the smell of death, with blood and fried, burnt flesh.

Blood had been splattered across the sand as if dumped from a passing speeder, and mangled, charred bodies were piled on top of each other. Body parts were severed, pieces gnarled limbs scattered about, some corpses half-devoured by the blast, shredded beyond recognition and to the point that Kyp wrinkled his nose in distaste, averting his eyes from the gruesome scene.

Unfortunately, he looked down, and saw that some blood had splattered across his tunic.

"And I really liked this one," he sighed heavily. "Pity."

Jaina shot him a look that was part-amused, part-exasperated, and then she moved forward, stepping over the bodies in her way without so much as a second glance as she strode purposefully over to deformed, viciously mutilated body of Charat Kraal.

"Looks like you nailed him," Kyp observed with a smirk from a distance, not particularly eager to wade through the carnage.

_Kill the other, indeed, _he thought with a derisive snort, and shook his head. It would have been nice to ram his lightsaber through Charat Kraal's chest and sever the warrior in two, but he had to admit Jaina's plan had worked perfectly.

His smirk faded, though, as he saw Jaina kneel down and roll the body over.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Looking for something," she replied briskly, without sparing him a glance.

"I can see that," Kyp replied in exasperation, rolling his eyes since she wasn't looking. "Looking for what exactly?"

"This."

Turning around with a triumphant smile, Jaina held up a small, bloodstained villip that she had pulled from somewhere beneath Charat Kraal's voodum crab armor.

"Don't you already have one of those?" Kyp inquired skeptically. "Two, in fact?"

"Yes," Jaina replied, pushing to her feet. "But not one that feeds directly to Czulkang Lah's own villip."

Suddenly understanding, Kyp's lips curved up into a slow, predatory smile.

"Oh," he said, nodding slyly as he thought her plan through. "I see what you mean. Very ingenious of you, Goddess."

Very ingenious indeed.


	37. Chapter 37

**Priestship, Tatooine Orbit**

Former warmasters did not pace.

Pacing was for weaklings, for pathetic disgraces of warriors who would never amount to anything other than being fodder for the enemy's weapons.

At the moment, however, Czulkang Lah felt an urge to pace.

It had been hours since Charat Kraal and his warriors were deployed to the desolate desert planet below, and there had not been word from them since the initial communication to confirm that they had landed and that they were still picking up a weak signal from the _Ksstarr_'s gravitic signature.

_He should have reported in by now,_ Czulkang Lah thought with a silent growl of frustration, as he glanced at the lifeless villip on the coral console in front of him.

The orders he had given the young commander were explicitly clear, they were to attempt to capture Jaina Solo by force, using two hundred of the warriors at their disposal to overwhelm her and the _Jeedai_ Master Kyp Durron, who fought at her side like a loyal servant.

Czulkang Lah had made a point of ordering Charat Kraal to retreat if they found themselves ensnared in one of Jaina Solo's trap, knowing that the foolish warrior would never do so unless directly ordered to.

But if the warriors had indeed walked into a trap, why had Charat Kraal not retreated and contacted him?

Nearly all of the warriors aboard the priestship had been deployed down into the sands below under Charat Kraal's command, a risky decision, but the only one possible to make if they were to stand any chance of apprehending the _Jeedai_ woman who had evaded every previous effort.

Still, Czulkang Lah had not been so foolish as to dismiss them all that easily, and fifty of his best warriors, warriors that he himself had trained, were still stationed aboard with him, awaiting further orders.

He had hoped that he would not have to use them, but now it was beginning to seem clear that he would.

"Great One."

At the sound of Harrar's voice, Czulkang Lah turned in the young priest's direction, and found that the villip on the console in front of him was now rippling, waiting to be answered. He exchanged a look with the priest, who watched with baited breath as he passed his hand over the villip, and it began to take shape.

After a moment, the small, disfigured face of Charat Kraal stared back at him.

"Your report?" Czulkang Lah demanded without preamble.

There was an unusual pause, then Charat Kraal answered, torn lips curving upward into a grim smile. "We have her cornered, Great One," the young warrior announced, full of pride and smug satisfaction that a promotion was on the way. "She is trapped inside of a cliff cave, with no way out, and has agreed to surrender herself to you in exchange for her _Jeedai_ companion's life to be spared."

Czulkang Lah remained silent for a long moment, considering his words.

"How did you corner her, Charat Kraal?" he asked at last, studying the scarred face of the young warrior staring up at him from his villip appraisingly.

Behind him, he felt Harrar draw closer, likewise watching the villip with silent suspicion.

"The _Jeedai_ laid a trap for us, just as you expected, Great One," Charat Kraal explained. "Because of your wise warning not to underestimate them, I sent half of my warriors ahead. They walked into an ambush and within seconds were all killed in a series of explosions. I waited for a scout to survey the situation, then once it was clear that Jaina Solo and the male Jeedai accompanying her had run out of their explosives, we converged upon them from three directions, forcing them to retreat into the cliffs."

"You are certain they have no more weapons in there?" Czulkang Lah demanded. "And that they cannot escape through a back exit that you have missed?"

"I am positive, Great One," Charat Kraal assured him, with complete confidence.

Silently, Czulkang Lah stroked his tattooed chin, staring at nothing as he contemplated this. He had expected much better of Jaina Solo, truth be told, and he did not like the idea that she had made a mistake, it seemed so unlike her to leave herself so vulnerable.

"Why would she run into a cave that she could not escape from?" Harrar murmured, voicing Czulkang Lah's own question quietly enough that the villip would not pick up on it.

"There is one other thing, Great One," Charat Kraal said tentatively, and the warrior grimaced, clearly perturbed by the news he had to convey. "Jaina Solo set a condition to her surrender."

Despite himself, Czulkang Lah smiled. "A condition, you say?"

"Yes, Great One," Charat Kraal confirmed with discomfort. "She will only surrender if you come alone, so that she may have a chance to salvage her own by dueling with you. Her terms are that if you win, she will allow you to take her to the Warmaster for sacrifice, and she will go peacefully. But if she wins, she asks that you permit her and her _Jeedai_ companion an hour's headstart to attempt to escape this planet."

"An hour's headstart could allow her to disappear into darkspace," Czulkang Lah commented wryly.

"She claims if you were good enough to find her this time, you will find her again," Charat Kraal responded, his lip curling in obvious distaste for the _Jeedai_.

"How many warriors do you have left?" Czulkang inquired.

The young warrior flinched, and it was clear the number would be low.

"Less than twenty," Charat Kraal replied lowly, lowering his eyes in shame. "I have dishonored you, Great One, with my failure."

"Perhaps you will have a chance to redeem yourself," Czulkang Lah said smoothly. "When I join you shortly."

Without another word, he passed his hand over the villip again and it introverted, then he turned to face Harrar, who was frowning, deep in thought. Patiently, Czulkang Lah waited, curious to hear what the clever young priest would have to say on the matter.

"Something disturbs me, but I cannot identify what," Harrar warned at last. "It could be a trap."

"Of course it is a trap," Czulkang Lah replied immediately. "Charat Kraal is a fool to fall for the Jeedai's ploys, to assume that she does not have one last trick up her sleeve. That is why I will take the remaining warriors with me, and I will do the task myself, as I should have done to begin with. Charat Kraal is a determined commander, but much too inexperienced to deal with an opponent as clever as Jaina Solo."

"Do you think that wise, to go yourself?" Harrar questioned skeptically.

Czulkang Lah sent the priest a chastising look. "Do you think age has robbed me so completely of my strength?" he demanded mildly. "Or of my intelligence?"

"No, Great One," Harrar replied, bowing his head slightly in apology.

"It is obvious that Jaina Solo is not trapped, as she would have us believed," Czulkang Lah explained. "She is waiting to lure me into the cave, where she has a trap set. That is why I will not enter, but flush her out of hiding instead. I will make her come to me, out in the open."

"Perhaps we should wait for reinforcements," Harrar advised carefully. "Seventy warriors is not many, especially not when you consider how easily she disposed of nearly two hundred."

"And take the chance that she escapes while we wait?" Czulkang Lah shook his head. "No, Eminence. I will heed your caution and remember not to underestimate Jaina Solo, but it is a risk that we must be willing to take. Too much is riding on this sacrifice, there is too much at stake."

For a long moment, Harrar was silent, and then he spoke, his shoulders sagging slightly.

"May the gods smile upon you today, Great One," the priest said quietly.

"Let us hope that they do, Eminence," Czulkang Lah replied, rising to his feet. "Let us hope that they do."

* * *

**Coruscant, former Entertainment District**

Luke Skywalker jolted awake, every nerve in his body screaming as the Force roared in his ears.

His hand went instinctively to his hip, searching for his lightsaber, before he realized that whatever disturbance had just awoken him was nowhere near his current location. In fact, it wasn't even on Coruscant, but a galaxy away, a distant echo that had carried across space to his heart.

Just as well, considering that wearing simulated voodum crab armor disguises meant hiding lightsabers elsewhere.

As his pounding heart began to slow again, and his head cleared of the terrible, misting fog that had confused him, dread began to set in.

Something was terribly wrong.

_Jaina,_ he thought, for no reason that he could consciously explain, but the moment he thought his niece's name, things shifted and fell into place in the Force.

Whatever had just happened, whatever it was that he'd sensed, it was centered around Jaina.

And that could not be a good thing.

Taking a slow, deep breath, Luke looked around at the sleeping figures scattered about the dirty, wet durasteel hallway of what was once a vibrant building. After the sun went down, it had been decided that the team would catch a few hours of rest while they had the chance, since it was badly needed and no one knew when they would find the opportunity again, while two kept watch in shifts.

Without looking, Luke knew that at either end of the hall stood a towering figure, distinctly Yuuzhan Vong in appearance, as Face and Kell Tainer had chosen to keep both their voodum crab armor and ooglith masquers on, just in case any real Yuuzhan Vong happened by.

"Mmm."

To his right, Tahiri Veila stirred in her sleep, but didn't wake as her blond hair fell across her nose.

Despite the heaviness in his chest, Luke smiled faintly, and reached over to gently brush it away from her face and out of her eyes. He was struck suddenly by how young Tahiri looked, by how young she really was, and not for the first time, he wondered if he had made a mistake by bringing her along.

Just like he'd sent her to Myrkr.

On that fateful mission, Tahiri had lost her best friend, the boy she loved more than any other, and she was still struggling to cope with that loss, with a wound that might never fully heal.

The youngest member of the strike team sent to Myrkr, Tahiri had been tortured during the breaking, hunted around the chrono, and watched over half of the team of young Jedi met their deaths. This would have been more than enough to take a serious toll on any Jedi Knight, much less an apprentice, and one who was still trying to come to terms with what the Yuuzhan Vong had done to her on Yavin Four.

_They've taken so much from you,_ Luke thought sadly, staring down at the sleeping girl.

And yet Tahiri did not seek vengeance.

It was an observation that he had tried not to dwell on, but in recent days it had struck him more powerfully than ever. Tahiri had felt Anakin die, had watched his last stand, she'd had her mind and soul essentially raped by the Vong, and if anyone had reason to hate them, it was her.

But she didn't.

Why then, couldn't Jaina likewise let go of the hate?

In the shadowed corners of his heart, he feared he had an answer, but it was one that he could never admit, much less accept or acknowledge.

Still, there was no denying that there was much of his father in Jaina, more than he'd ever dreamed, as he was coming to realize as of late. The anger, the hate, the cold, impenetrable fury... all born from the terrible grief and despair of her brothers' deaths, which had driven her to embrace the dark side.

And a Skywalker who walked the dark path was more dangerous alone than the Vong could ever be.

But Jaina was not alone, and she had chosen the very worst ally imaginable, for there were few Jedi who could rival Kyp Durron in power, and even fewer who could match him in temper.

As a boy, Kyp had been compelled by the spirit of a Sith Lord named Exar Kun, who led him into darkness, and he had done terrible things while under the dark side's influence. He had viscously wiped, and damaged, the mind of Qwi Xux, then pulled the Sun Crusher out of heart of Yavin and proceeded to destroy an entire planet.

Though Kyp had turned back to the light in the end, and dedicated himself to being a Jedi to make amends, Luke knew that Carida had haunted the younger man ever since.

Now that Kyp had once again fallen into the dark side's unrelenting and merciless grip, he didn't want to even think about what horrible deeds the younger man might be responsible for. There was tremendous power inside of Kyp, and anger that had never really left him from his time on Kessel, and those who things did not mix well in a Jedi Master who had grown increasingly aggressive during the course of the war.

Coupled together with the granddaughter of Darth Vader himself, who was proving that she was capable of being every bit as ruthless as Vader himself, there was a good chance that Kyp might actually do worse than Carida now, a thought which made Luke shudder.

_Jaina,_ he thought grimly, his heart aching with sorrow and disappointment. _Do you have any idea what you've done?  
_

* * *

**Jundland Wastes, Tatooine**

Sometimes, Jaina Solo truly amazed him.

"Sometimes I truly amaze myself," she said with a feral grin, picking up on his thoughts.

Kyp Durron let his lips curved up into a smirk, keeping his eyes trained on the endless sea of sand in the distance, as the patch of nothingness in the Force grew closer and closer. With Jedi sight, he spotted the front lines of the small Yuuzhan Vong army approaching, and he stiffened, fingers twitching towards his lightsaber.

"Patience, lover," Jaina reminded him in a low, silky voice, and pushed off of the rocky wall they were leaning against. "Stick to the plan."

"Why do you always get to have all the fun?" Kyp grumbled.

"Because I'm a goddess," was Jaina's smug, and predictable, answer.

_You certainly are,_ Kyp agreed silently, watching her backside appreciatively as she strode across the sand towards the incoming Yuuzhan Vong, stopping just shy of the two hundred mutilated corpses scattered over the ground.

The explosives had been a stroke of genius on Jaina's part, one that made him all the more proud to be able to claim her as his. Hundreds of Yuuzhan Vong had been wiped out in a matter of seconds, and it had been as easy as if the two Jedi were simply playing a child's telekinesis game.

It was a remarkably effective, and strangely satisfying, way of disposing with the enemy.

And this round would be no less enjoyable.

Catching sight of Jaina standing there, alone and calm amidst the carnage, the Yuuzhan Vong troops suddenly came to an abrupt and hesitant halt, confused murmurs carrying through the air.

And then a tall and proud figure pushed forward through the crowd, and all others parted for him.

To Kyp's surprise, this warrior was by far the oldest Yuuzhan Vong he had ever encountered, the telltale signs of age showing despite the endless array of scars and tattoos carved into his face, which nearly concealed the wrinkles in his dull, gray skin. And the voodum crab armor was thick and massive, built to hide the frailty that came with old age, and give augmented strength to the wearer.

This, he was certain, could only be Czulkang Lah.

The old warrior stopped, staring at Jaina with an unreadable, but definitely surprised, look, and then slow realization began to dawn across his face, a bitter smile tugging at his ragged lips as he realized the true nature of the trap he had just walked into.

Black, soulless eyes glanced in Kyp's direction briefly, appraising and then dismissing him all in the blink of an eye, before turning their focus onto Jaina. Recognition flared in those fathomless eyes, and something that Kyp couldn't quite define, but strangely suspected was akin to some form of bizarre respect.

"_Jeedai_ Solo," the old warrior said, his voice deep and rumbling. "We meet at last."

"You may call me Great One, mortal," Jaina responded coolly, lifting her chin in a remarkable imitation of Princess Leia's regal, stubborn grace.

Even stranger, the old warrior actually smiled at that, a smile that showed his broken, fanged teeth.

"I think I will pass on that," he told her, with feigned apology. "I see you have learned how to communicate with a villip. Tell me, did you know it would show Charat Kraal's face and translate your words, or was that a fortunate accident on your part?"

"There were two villips on Nom Anor's ship when I stole it," Jaina replied with a smirk. "I used one to contact your son and mock him, and he thought I was Nom Anor at first. I realized then that personal villips were attuned. That's why I took care to attune the second villip to myself, for future communication with the Warmaster, since he finds my face especially offensive."

"Ah," Czulkang Lah murmured, remarkably calm for someone who knew he was about to die. "I think, perhaps, that my son should not have failed to mention such information when he gave me the task of overseeing your capture."

"No doubt Tsavong Lah left out many things he should have told you," Jaina agreed, still smiling like a Tusken wildcat about to pounce on its prey at any moment. "I'll be sure to convey your grievances to him the next time we have a chance to chat."

Czulkang Lah smiled, a grim and weary smile, but did not speak.

For a long moment, the two fierce warriors regarded each other in measuring silence, neither one so much as blinking under the other's intense, daunting stare.

And then the old warrior drew his amphistaff, patiently waiting for Jaina to make her move.

_Kyp,_ Jaina sent across their rapport. _Now._

Reaching out with the Force, Kyp gave a sharp tug at the two boulders resting atop of the cliffs overhead, and hurled them into the small army of Yuuzhan Vong accompanying the former Warmaster.

Twenty were crushed instantly, and the others were caught off-guard as they scrambled out of the way.

Two lightsabers ignited in unison, filling the air with an ominous hum.

And for the second time that day, the sands of Tatooine ran black with the blood of the Yuuzhan Vong.


	38. Chapter 38

Things were not going as they should have.

Not for the first time, Tsavong Lah wondered if he had angered the gods somehow.

Staring down at his left arm, which had been replaced at the elbow by a radank claw, all reddish scales and spines, with fingers that were segmented and articulated in an unnatural manner, he pondered this question for what seemed like the thousandth time in the past day alone.

Spines and scales were emerging from the flesh above his elbow as well, and small black dots swarmed around them.

How many weeks had he been relying on the carrion-eaters now?

Too many.

And no matter how long they ate away at the rot afflicting his implant, the infirmity did not recede.

It was more than just his implant that had led Tsavong Lah to question whether he had fallen out of the gods' favor, though, for it was only another incident in a long string of events.

He had conquered Coruscant, but the planet was not shaping as smoothly as it should have been.

He had promised the _Jeedai_ twins to the gods for sacrifice, but Jaina Solo continued to elude him.

And now they had taken his son from him, as well.

Khalee Lah had been, in some ways, a disappointment.

The young warrior had been gifted with the prowess that ran in their bloodline, and intelligence to match it, but he'd had no concept of either discretion or subtlety. Not even Harrar, a trusted friend of Tsavong's since their shared youth and a revered high priest, had been able to turn his impolitic and pious son around, nor to rid him of that foolish candor of his.

As powerful and masterful a warrior as Khalee Lah had been, his piety had bordered on obsession, and that was not befitting of a future warmaster.

Still, he had been his son, and Tsavong Lah grieved him.

He would take great pleasure in watching her be struck down by her own male counterpart during the twin sacrifice.

Once, he would have hoped for Jaina Solo to be the victor of that duel, to witness Jacen Solo brought to his knees and defeated, utterly and completely, for the outrage he had brought upon Tsavong Lah on Duro so long ago, but many things had changed since then.

While he still wished nothing but shame, dishonor and great agony upon death upon Jacen Solo, the craven one was no longer the most hated _Jeedai_ twin.

Nor the most dangerous.

It might be necessary to take measures to ensure that Jaina Solo did not win the duel. Even if the conversion and shaping of Jacen Solo succeeded without flaw, and he was compelled to end the life of his blasphemous twin because it was the will of the gods, it would not hurt to make certain that the correct twin won.

_Perhaps the gods will smile upon me and they will both die, killing each other, _Tsavong Lah thought, and couldn't help smiling at the prospect.

Of course, there was nothing to prevent him from inflicting a little pre-sacrificial torture on the one who dared to call herself Yun-Harla, and he was certain that none of his warriors would object. Most would have liked the honor of sharing in the glory of the noble task, but Tsavong Lah would keep that pleasure for himself and himself alone, for what Jaina Solo had done to him.

By the time he was finished with her, she would be begging her twin to end her suffering.

And the weakling Jacen Solo, having been shown the truth and the light of the gods, would not hesitate to comply, striking down his twin and putting an end to her blasphemy once and for all.

It would be a fine day, a day to remember.

A day to help forget this one.

The infidels in the Pyria system had ambushed and defeated Wyrpuuk Cha's forces and were now foolish enough to think that they could hold this world of Borleias, which must have some great importance that Tsavong Lah had yet to discover. The one known as Wedge Antilles was leading the infidels on Borleias, and he had proven to be a man of strategy and logic, possibly second to the infidel Garm bel Ibis.

Retaking the Pyria system was a job that required a warmaster's touch, but Tsavong Lah could not go.

To his underlings, he had claimed there was too many great tasks for the Warmaster to attend to, and to his most loyal and trusted clansmen, he had used the situation with the captive Jeedai, the craven Jacen Solo, as an excuse to explain why he could not leave his worldship over the conquered Coruscant as it was becoming the new Yuuzhan'tar.

In truth, though, Tsavong Lah could not have lead this attack if he had wished to.

His contaminated implant would not permit it.

But no one, not even the most trusted advisors, could know that, or he would lose even more credibility. Already, there were rumors that his implant was being rejected, that it was a sign from the gods and that soon he would become a Shamed One.

That was his deepest fear.

Seized by a sudden uneasiness, Tsavong Lah moved in front of the reflective skin across the coral wall, taking in his own appearance with a critical eye.

A heavily scarred and tattooed example of a high-ranking Yuuzhan Vong warrior stared back at him, with lips that had been slit into tatters that stirred whenever he exhaled loudly, and his body was marked everywhere by blood red scales, implants that spoke of his importance.

Again, he looked down at the radank claw attached to his left arm.

How had it come to this?

He was a Warmaster, the Yuuzhan Vong's planner and guiding light for this invasion. His was a noble station, taken by his own hands from his father when it became clear that Czulkang Lah was too ancient to lead any longer. The wise old warrior had not seen, and still couldn't seem, how ripe this galaxy was for the taking, how the gods had divined that it would fall to the Yuuzhan Vong.

It had not been an easy thing, challenging his father.

Growing up the son of the legendary Czulkang Lah, he had been awed by his father's reputation, his prowess, but never intimidated, for his father had trained him to be the best warrior to ever come out of Domain Lah, to surpass him one day when the time was right.

The time had been right a few years ago.

Scouts who had been sent ahead decades beforehand reported back of the riches and splendors of this galaxy that the infidels took for granted, that they poisoned and mutilated with machines and their hideous technology.

Even Nom Anor, who had kept a close eye on the infidel's military, had agreed that the time to strike was at hand.

But Czulkang Lah had refused to accept the facts, to look past his own pride and aging mind to see the glory and wealth that this campaign would bring to the Yuuzhan Vong. He had insisted that the Yuuzhan Vong would meet their doom in this galaxy of infidels, and that was when Tsavong Lah had realized the truth.

His father was afraid.

Such a realization had been difficult to accept, but in the end, he moved past it.

The great and wise Czulkang Lah did not fear his own death or the deaths of his fellow warriors, he did not even fear defeat as so many, Tsavong Lah himself included on a rare occasion, he feared only one thing.

Failure.

Not many lived to the age that Czulkang had achieved, most died gloriously in battle long before the hands of time were able to stretch on that far, and that in itself was a burden he had to bear. But with great age came senility, and mistakes, and that, Tsavong Lah knew, was what his father feared most of all.

To be forever shamed, to have one mistake at the end of his life mar his flawless career.

And so he had done the right thing, the only thing he could do to spare his father shame, and Tsavong Lah had issued a challenge for the title of Warmaster.

Victory had not been easy, of course, the years had not made Czulkang any less formidable of a warrior, and perhaps some sentimentality had clouded his mind, but Tsavong Lah had not wished to kill his father during this challenge. To his relief, Czulkang Lah had not forced him to, the old warrior had known that he was beaten and laid down his amphistaff, accepting defeat.

Then he had congratulated his son, the new warmaster, and departed.

Things between them had not been smooth after that, but father and son had come to an understanding in time, and when he had been in need of a brilliant commander, after others continued to fail him, Tsavong Lah had gone to his father and offered him a chance to lead again.

With the infidels in the Pyria system causing so much trouble, he would have liked to be able to send Czulkang Lah there to deal with them, to show them the true might of the Yuuzhan Vong and watch them tremble, but he could not.

His father had already been given an important task, one of great honor, and to take him away from that would be an insult to the old warrior.

No, Czulkang would see to the capture of Jaina Solo, working alongside Harrar, and Tsavong Lah would find someone else to dispatch to Borleias. There was no one he could depend on more to apprehend the _Jeedai_ sorceress than his father, and he still held firm in his opinion that Harrar would eventually find a trick to employ against Jaina Solo that she could not escape from.

Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he turned to see his villip rippling, so he passed a hand over it and a moment later a familiar face was looking back at him.

"Greetings, Warmaster," Harrar said, and the villip contorted to show a slight inclination of his head, a show of genuine respect.

"Your Eminence," Tsavong Lah replied. "How fares the hunt?"

"We located Jaina Solo on her uncle's homeworld of Tatooine, Great One," Harrar answered. "Nearly three hundred warriors were deployed to capture her for the sacrifice."

The exultant triumph Tsavong Lah felt at the knowledge that Jaina Solo would soon be brought to justice was fleeting, as he caught a flicker of something, not exactly hesitance, but something just as wary, showed across the distorted image of his old friend's face.

"You have something to report?" he inquired.

"Yes," the priest said gravely. "I do. I am forwarding a message that was sent to the tarkana aboard my priestship from a tarkana on Tatooine."

Tsavong Lah frowned. "From my father?"

"No," Harrar responded vaguely. "Do you have a tarkana present?"

"One moment," Tsavong Lah said, and summoned his kinsmen Maal Lah from the adjoining chamber. "Bring me my tarkana," he ordered sharply, and Maal Lah bowed, disappearing through the rough coral archway and then returning a few seconds later with the tarkana in hand.

He let the tarkana flutter from his hands and it came to a rest just before Tsavong Lah, hovering in the air with its gnarled wings flapping. Maal Lah stroked its back, and the creature emitted a soft screeching sound, its opaque wings stilling, and after a moment to receive the impulses being sent from Harrar's own tarkana, routed through their villips, a blurry image began to take life upon the viewing flaps.

And Tsavong Lah recoiled in horror.

Yuuzhan Vong corpses littered the sand, burned and mutilated as they lay in great pools of blood, creating a scene of gruesome carnage.

From the angle the recording creature was facing, it was impossible to guess how many dead there were, much less how many wounded, but if the overwhelming spread of bodies crammed into the picture he was witnessing was any indication, then the numbers had to be staggering.

"What did this?" he demanded.

"Not what," Harrar responded smoothly. "Who."

An inexplicable dread twisted to life within Tsavong Lah's belly.

"Watch," Harrar instructed softly, the lips of his villip barely moving as he spoke the words.

How the priest thought Tsavong Lah could have possibly done anything else was beyond him, and the warmaster's eyes were glued to the horrific scene being displayed across his tarkana's wings, even as he became aware of the sounds of battle still being waged in the background, just out of sight.

_Rotate,_ Tsavong Lah growled to himself.

A recording tarkana could not move, of course, it was designed to hover stationary unless someone was there to turn it, but he was granted his wish to see what was taking place beyond its eyes just the same.

The unmistakable figure of his father moved past on screen, amphistaff whirling with speed that his age should have made impossible, a feat which only furthered Tsavong Lah's reverence for Czulkang Lah's prowess, but the old warrior was not fairing well against his young opponent.

Tsavong Lah hissed as the _Jeedai_ Jaina Solo drove his father back, her lightsaber nothing but a purple blur as it slashed back and forth with violent precision.

To his frustration, the duelers moved out of sight again.

But others took their place.

A tall, lean human male with a lightsaber close in color to that of Jaina Solo's pedaled backwards, warding off three warriors at once and whirling to cut down a fourth who had been trying to sneak up on him from behind.

"The _Jeedai _Kyp Durron," Harrar's villip commented. "He is a follower of Jaina Solo's, a trusted and high-ranking companion from what our spies have reported."

"This is the one who destroyed the world called Carida?" Tsavong Lah asked, watching the dark-haired human's face as he savagely cut his blade through two more warriors, kicking their severed torsos from their bodies and spinning to attack some foe out of sight.

"Yes."

"I was told that this _Jeedai _did not follow anyone but himself."

"It is true that he does not follow Luke Skywalker as the rest of the _Jeedai_ do," Harrar replied. "But you can see for yourself that he heeds the command of Jaina Solo, and it would seem he holds her life to be sacred and divine. You will see an example of this in just a moment."

Sure enough, jumbled movement fell across the screen, and the distinctive figures of Czulkang Lah and Jaina Solo came into view in the background, some distance beyond the one called Kyp Durron and the noble warriors he was slaying without mercy.

At first, Tsavong Lah saw nothing to put credence to Harrar's words, but then he spotted a warrior lunging for Jaina Solo from behind, while her blade was tangled with Czulkang's amphistaff.

A surge of anticipation shot through the warmaster, but the blow never came.

Just as the warrior's amphistaff, now held in whip form, was about to jerk forward to sink its toxic fangs into the blasphemous _Jeedai _woman's side, blinding light seared across the tarkana's view and tore right through the warrior, hurling him and his amphistaff back.

The warrior howled in agony, convulsing as the dark energy ripped through his flesh, smoke rising from his voodum crab armor, and then he fell still, all life drained from his eyes.

Chest heaving and a wild, maniacal gleam in his eyes, the one called Kyp Durron lowered his clawed hand.

And the lightning disappeared from his fingertips.

For a moment, Kyp Durron stared down at his hand, as if it was suddenly an implant instead of his own, a strange look of baffled horror flickering in his eyes.

But it was gone a moment later when he had to parry a strike from a towering warrior whose amphistaff swung hard towards the _Jeedai_'s head, and then the _Jeedai_ was again focused solely on the fight, pushing the warrior back with a snarl that was etched across his face as he crossed directly in front of the recording tarkana and then vanished out of sight again to the right of the creature.

"I will allow you to view the rest in privacy, Warmaster," Harrar said, lowering his eyes.

Cold seeped into the very heart of Tsavong Lah's being and he knew.

Without waiting for a response or dismissal, Harrar's image crumpled in on itself as the connection between their villips ended, but Tsavong Lah barely noticed, so intent was he on what he was witnessing on the tarkana.

Czulkang stumbled, overpowered by Jaina Solo, and she kicked the amphistaff out of his hand.

It landed in the sand some feet away, out of the old warrior's reach, and Czulkang Lah looked up at the _Jeedai_ with eerie calm on his scarred face, and his tattered lips moved with words that Tsavong Lah could not hear, but whatever they were elicited a nefarious smile from Jaina Solo.

And then she drove her lightsaber straight down through his chestplate, impaling him in the sand.

The revered old warrior flinched at the searing impact, but did not cry out, and a faint, inexplicable smile touched his tattered lips as the life faded from his dark eyes.

Czulkang Lah died proudly, with honor that a numb, shocked Tsavong Lah knew he himself would never possess.

His father's murderer then turned to look directly into the tarkana, a cold and ruthless smirk on her hideously unscarred face. There was something dark and sinister shining in her eyes that Tsavong Lah was ashamed to admit unsettled him, full of malicious triumph.

And then she spoke, just a simple seven words in the vile tongue of the infidels.

"I am coming for you, Tsavong Lah."

Then Jaina Solo's sneering face faded and the tarkana's wings became opaque once more, but the image of his father's gruesome death and the young _Jeedai_'s taunting words lingered in the air.

Tsavong Lah did not move for some time.


	39. Chapter 39

For such a warm planet, nights on Tatooine were remarkably cold.

There were colder places one could have been in the galaxy, of course, and many of them at that, but the change in temperature once the twin suns disappeared from the sky was nothing short of drastic.

"Share the covers, nerf-herder," growled the tiny form curled up next to him.

"Let the Force heat your body," Kyp Durron grunted, too tired to suggest other, more exerting ways he could think of to warm her right up. "Then you won't have to smother yourself under all these blankets."

"You're just saying that because you want them to yourself," Jaina muttered darkly, and took a halfhearted jab at his side with her elbow.

Sighing, Kyp gave up and relinquished more of the blankets over to her, which she quickly tugged tight against her small frame without any regard for the fact that she was now leaving him entirely too little of the material to be of much use against the cold.

Jaina was lucky he loved her, or he would have probably shoved her out of the small, tattered bed by now.

"I'd like to see you try," she grumbled, shifting beneath the blankets to try and get comfortable.

"Don't tempt me," Kyp advised with a growl. "And why do you get all of the covers, when you're a fourth of my size?"

"Because I'm a goddess," Jaina snapped irritably. "That's why. Now leave me alone, I'm trying to sleep."

"You're moody when you're tired, do you know that?" Kyp asked.

"Shut up, mortal."

"Not until you learn to share," Kyp retorted, and he was dead serious. "I'm not going to freeze all night just because you think your little body is more important than mine."

That got a reaction out of her, although not the one he'd been expecting, and Jaina finally rolled over to face him, the tiny bed leaving them so close that there was hardly any space between them. "You don't want to make sure my body stays in perfect condition?" she asked slyly, a dark twinkle in her eyes. "I'd think that was in your best interest, all things considered, _Master_."

Despite his irritation, Kyp's lips quirked at that.

"You know, someday the effects of you calling me 'Master' are going to wear off," he informed her wryly. "And then you'll have to find other methods of instant persuasion."

"Don't worry," Jaina said smoothly, with unnerving calm. "I'm sure I'll find a way to remain persuasive."

Somehow, Kyp didn't doubt that in the least.

Still, that hardly mattered at the moment, because he was still cold and she still had all of the blankets, and it looked like he was going to have to resort to physically taking the situation into his own hands if he didn't want to freeze in his sleep tonight.

Pressing his lips together, he snaked out one arm to wrap it around Jaina's waist, and promptly rolled her all the way over him and to the other side of the small bed, eliciting a startled protest from her in the process, which he ignored. He tucked her into his arms so that the blankets were now covering him completely, with the wall to his back to keep the cold out, while Jaina was guaranteed more than enough warmth against his chest.

"You cheated," she accused with an exasperated sigh.

"Mmm," Kyp agreed with a lazy murmur, inhaling the familiar scent of her hair. "That I did. What are you going to do about it, Goddess?"

"At the moment, nothing," Jaina informed him, yawning softly. "I'm too tired. But in the morning, I'm going to kick you. Hard."

"You're welcome to try," Kyp retorted, closing his eyes.

"Do or do not," Jaina mumbled, just to spite him. "There is no try."

Kyp rolled his eyes, but didn't reply, knowing it wasn't a good idea to further an argument with her, no matter how much enjoyment he got out of provoking her. They were both tired after the long day they'd had, and it would be only a few hours until they needed to get up to head to Mos Eisely in the morning.

There were some supplies they needed to pick up, and they were hoping to catch some news from the HoloNet in one of the cantinas, but there was a much more important reason for the trip to the spaceport.

And that was to find a smuggler ship heading offworld to attach a gravitic repulsor to, in order to draw the Yuuzhan Vong away from Tatooine and make them think that Jaina had abandoned the desert world after being found there by Czulkang's troops.

The poor fool who was unfortunate enough to have his ship selected would undoubtedly find himself cornered by a very angry Yuuzhan Vong fleet sooner or later, but that wasn't his problem.

_It'll serve the smuggler right, _Kyp thought with a faint smirk. _He should have chosen a better profession._

Glancing down at Jaina, he wasn't surprised to find that she was already drifting off to sleep, her eyes closed and her shallow breathing spilling across his arm through his tunic.

It had been a long day.

Not long after dawn, they'd woken up, shared a bland meal of rations and sealed water, and then Jaina had dragged him out into the Jundland Wastes for the second day in a row, this time to inspect their handiwork from the day before under the harsh glare of the twin suns overhead.

For some inexplicable reason, she had been adamant about scouring the piles of Yuuzhan Vong corpses for any intact weaponry or voodum crab armor, claiming she wanted to study it in case any of it could be of further use to help her find weaknesses to exploit.

To Kyp's chagrin, that meant he had to help sift through the carnage.

It had only been half a day since the slaughter, but by the time the suns rose the next morning, the air was thick and heavy with the foul, rotting stench of death and decay.

And judging by the tracks in the sand, and the gnawed limbs scattered about, some reduced to the bone, a few of the local predators had found their way to the site of the ambush.

Within a few days, Kyp predicted there would be hardly anything but blackened, gnarled Vong skeletons left to tell the tale.

While Jaina hunted around through the mess of charred bodies, looking for thud bugs, blorash jelly, couffes or amphistaffs that had survived the explosions, Kyp had walked around the battlefield, sand stinging his cheeks in the wind, absently looking at the faces of the warriors they had slain.

Scarred, tattooed masks had stared back at him with lifeless eyes, all looking alike to his eye.

Abominations, Jaina had called them.

To Kyp's way of thinking, she wasn't far off. The Force was life, and life was the Force, so how could anything existing outside of the Force be alive?

His eyes swept the dark room, landing on the amphistaff coiled in the corner, and he couldn't suppress a shudder.

Why Jaina had insisted on bringing that thing back, he still didn't know.

It had been an amphistaff that pierced Anakin's spleen at Myrkr, in his reckless rush to Jaina's aide when she'd been backed into a corner and surrounded.

And it had been amphistaffs that impaled him again and again in the arena that day, finally driving the young Jedi warrior to his knees as he sacrificed his life for his friends and fellow Jedi, for his brother and sister, for the chance that the rest of the strike team might finish what he'd started and destroy the voxyn queen.

This one was far longer and much more slender than the ones most Yuuzhan Vong carried, sleeker and somehow it seemed to possess a deadlier grace that the others lacked.

It had belonged to Czulkang Lah, of course, so perhaps Jaina wanted it as a trophy.

The eerie light in her dark eyes as she'd run her fingers over the length of the weapon had sent a chill through the air around them, though, and Kyp was more than a little unsettled by her morbid fascination with it.

Holding an enemy amphistaff, a weapon that had cut down many a Jedi, was nauseating.

But Jaina had no such qualms about it, it seemed, for she was determined to master the amphistaff in order to improve her own combat skills against the Yuuzhan Vong and to further frighten the Yuuzhan Vong by the illusion that she was truly a Yuuzhan Vong goddess in the form of a _Jeedai _princess.

Unfortunately for Kyp, that meant that he had to spar with it, as well.

And it had felt strange and decidedly wrong to have a practice duel with Jaina while she was wielding the enemy weapon against his lightsaber. It made him uneasy, as if for a moment the galaxy had shifted and he and Jaina had been placed on opposing sides, and it was more than just the steely precision with which she was learning to wield the stolen amphistaff after hours of practice.

It was the rage that fought to break free inside of him, that surged the moment the amphistaff had clashed with his own lightsaber.

For a brief, fleeting moment, sanity had left him, and he had seen only an enemy instead of Jaina.

The feeling had faded as quickly and suddenly as it had come, and Jaina did not seem to have picked up on it, but the memory of that hateful moment lingered inside of Kyp with a bitter aftertaste.

It was not so unlike the frenzied, mindless anger that had overtaken him during the ambush of the Yuuzhan Vong forces lured to Tatooine by Jaina's gravitic repulsors, who had come to take her back to Tsavong Lah for sacrifice in the name of their imaginary gods.

He had enjoyed the fight, the slaughter, it had been exhilarating.

After so much death and destruction had been wrought at the Yuuzhan Vong's hands, with so little success made by those who fought against them, it had felt good to see the scarheads getting what they deserved, and being the one to hand out that retribution had been intoxicating.

He'd been thrilled, he'd been as a high as a spice addict.

And when his senses had tingled, warning that Jaina was in danger, he had reacted without thinking.

With her lightsaber tangled with Czulkang's amphistaff, her back had been left open to the warrior about to strike from behind, and the distance had been too great for Kyp to get there in time.

The Force lightning had leapt to life at his fingertips before he even consciously summoned it.

Due to the fact that the fight was far from over, he hadn't had time to contemplate his actions as he continued to drive back warrior after warrior, cutting them down right and left while Jaina toyed with Czulkang like a Corellian sand panther would its prey before finally dispatching the former warmaster by driving her lightsaber into his chest.

Kyp had to admit, he was impressed.

Even after the last Yuuzhan Vong fell, though, there hadn't been any time for him to dwell on what he'd done, because the adrenaline was still rushing through his veins, and the minute Jaina approached with a cool smile on her lips, laughing breathlessly as she kicked a mutilated Yuuzhan Vong torso out of the way, he'd found an outlet for all that adrenaline.

By taking her in his arms, ignoring the blood staining both of them, and kissing her into a frenzy before desperately carrying her back across the burning sand to Kenobi's hut.

In the still of night, with Jaina's sleeping form pressed close against him, Kyp's sleep had been dreamless and peaceful, untouched by any of the nagging doubts or hesitations that plagued him these days in his most vulnerable moments, and blissfully free of any haunting images from that battle.

But today, while he walked amidst the destruction they had wrought the day before, he could not escape it.

Staring down at the lifeless, dead faces of the warriors he had helped slaughter, Kyp had almost been able to see the warrior convulsing as the dark, jagged energy seared through his body, to sense it ripping open cells and tissue.

To smell the burning flesh.

He'd done it to save Jaina, acting out of an instinct that was as primal and natural as breathing, and though he knew he ought to have felt remorse for allowing his anger to consume him, the only thing he felt was a sort of detached awareness that he had just taken another step down the dark side's road, and a large one at that.

But Jaina was alive, Jaina was safe, and she was his.

And that was all that mattered.

It had been so easy to kill the Yuuzhan Vong that way, though, and it made a mockery of every valiant, but foolish and futile effort that he and the other Jedi had made to combat the invaders during all these long years of war.

_Imagine how easy it would be to take out dozens of warriors at once, with little more than a flick of your wrist, _the silky, inner voice whispered to him in the dark. _With Jaina at your side, imagine how many Vong you could kill, all without so much as breaking a sweat._

What was the point in so many Jedi struggling, and dying, just to inflict a tiny sliver in the Yuuzhan Vong's finger, when the power to decapitate the entire alien empire was at their fingertips?

_Master Skywalker is a fool, _he thought emotionlessly.

Luke may have been the galactic savior time and time again, helping bring an end to the Emperor and the Sith reign, but this was a fight that the aging Jedi Master clearly had no idea how to fight, and his indecisiveness was going to be the doom of them all unless someone took matters into their own hands.

But what could he expect from a naive farmboy?

Really, sometimes Luke was just as bad as that simpering nephew of his, Jacen Solo.

A soft, incoherent murmur escaped Jaina's lips as she slept, and she burrowed closer to him, curling up in his arms as she instinctively sought out warmth from him in the cold night.

_Sorry, sweetheart, _Kyp chuckled to himself, touching his hand to her hair and letting his fingers entangle themselves in those dark, silky tresses. _But you know it's true._

Jaina was undeniably the best and brightest of the Skywalker crop.

She was beautiful, dark and wild, as untamed as her dark hair, which was currently fanned all about her head like a distorted halo. The Force blazed inside of her, like a flame that couldn't be extinguished, and it burned cold against the black emptiness of the galaxy, drawing him ever closer, like a shadowmoth to fire.

His Goddess.

And his purpose in life was to worship her.

In every conceivable way.

He loved her, not the dark, silky tresses she had inherited from her mother or the soft womanly curves beneath his fingers. He might _admire_ those things, but he loved _her_, what was inside of her, in the very core of her being.

Dark, twisted little thing that she was.

And he knew, deep in his soul, that she loved him, as well.

It wasn't something that had to be spoken, or even asked, it was a constant whisper in the back of his mind, a small spark in the very heart of his chest, warming him and fueling the furious fire that raged within him.

Jaina could deny it all she wanted, he would play that game for now, because it amused him, but eventually she would say the words, he would make her confess her undying love and devotion to him and him alone. That was the nature of the bond between them, after all, she belonged to him.

Always.

_Love you, Goddess, _Kyp thought drowsily, his fingers stilling in her hair as his eyes fell closed wearily.

He drifted for a while in a state somewhere between slumber and waking, the steady rhythm of Jaina's breathing, of her heart beating next to him, lulling him deeper into sleep.

Hours later, how many he had no concept of, his dreamless sleep was suddenly, and violently, ripped away from him as he felt a stirring in the Force, followed by a sharp burst of awareness from Jaina, tinged with anger and a touch of anxiety.

_Kyp,_ she cried.

Before his eyes even opened, she was already moving, deftly rolling out of bed and throwing out her hand.

The unseen intruders were hurled back by the Force and slammed into the far wall of the hut hard, as Kyp leapt to his feet, his lightsaber calling itself into his hands and igniting without conscious thought, and the blade cast a white-purple glow across the faces of the two beings pinned to the wall.

Both were human, a woman with dark hair and black, fathomless eyes, and her companion was a younger male, about Jaina's age, with blond hair and a fierce scowl etched on his face. It had been clear from the moment he jolted awake that they were Force-sensitive, but Kyp did not recognize either of them.

Jaina, on the other hand, clearly did.

"Well, well," she snarled, her lips curving up in a vicious sneer, dark eyes full of fire and lightning. "If it isn't Lomi Plo and Welk."


	40. Chapter 40

To say that it was an unpleasant surprise would have been an understatement.

The sight of Raynar Thul's murderers filled Jaina Solo with a rage the likes of which she had not known since she'd killed the Yuuzhan Vong who had threatened to desecrate Anakin's body back on the worldship over Myrkr, when she'd summoned Force lightning for the first time in a blaze of fury.

Lomi Plo, a Nightsister of Dathomir, had been a captive on the worldship, along with her apprentice Welk, and Anakin had made the decision to free them, much to Zekk's disapproval.

Then again, Zekk may have just been opposed to the idea of helping a former comrade.

After all, Welk had been a student at the Shadow Academy, one of many young dark side wielders who looked up to and admired Zekk for being the Darkest Knight, at least until Zekk betrayed them and turned back to the light, saving the Jedi from entering the Temple rigged with explosives.

But despite Zekk's protests, Anakin had chosen to help the Dark Jedi.

And they had betrayed him.

Not only had they injured Lowbacca and killed Raynar when they took the two Jedi by surprise and stole the Yuuzhan Vong ship that the strike team had originally confiscated with the intent of using it to escape the worldship, they had stolen the only chance Anakin had left for survival.

Had they not taken that ship, the strike team might have been able to find a way to escape sooner, and Anakin could have gone into a healing trance onboard.

If not for Lomi Plo, both Raynar and Anakin would still be alive.

"You," Jaina sneered, her blood running as cold as ice, and let them both fall to the ground.

The two Dark Jedi quickly rose to their feet, and Lomi opened her mouth to speak, but Jaina closed it for her on the spot, curling her fingers into a claw and squeezing slightly, slowing crushing the Nightsister's throat with the Force just as she had done to Ta'a Chume on Hapes.

Unlike Ta'a Chume, however, Lomi Plo had access to the Force.

Jaina felt the older woman reach out with it, trying to pry away the invisible hands choking her, to tear through the thick band pressing in on her throat, and she tightened her grip.

With her own superior power suppressing Lomi's, Jaina forced the Nightsister to her knees, gasping for air.

It would have been easy to simply crush the woman's trachea and be done with it, but she wasn't about to let Lomi get off that lightly, not after everything the wretched woman had done at Myrkr. Anakin's blood was on her hands just as surely as Raynar's, and she would make the woman pay for their deaths.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Welk move towards her menacingly, a fierce snarl on his face, but he never made it more than a few steps before a white-purple blade flickered in front of his throat.

Moving up behind Lomi's young apprentice as he stiffened, Kyp pressed his fingers hard against the sensitive nerve in the younger man's neck, where too much pressure would prove fatal in a matter of seconds, and Welk froze, trapped between the lightsaber at his throat and Kyp behind him.

"You so much as think about blinking, and I'll kill you," Kyp growled softly, and Welk had enough sense of self-preservation to stay perfectly still, although the scowl on his face made it clear that he was itching to turn the tables on the Jedi Master.

The very idea was ridiculous of course, and Jaina made a mental note to laugh about it later.

Right now, she had more important things to think about.

Like whether to call for her lightsaber, or simply summon a nice volley of Force lightning to finish the Nightsister on her knees in front of her off.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't snap your neck," Jaina snarled at the woman, her veins frigid with cold, black fury, and her chest raw and heaving with unfiltered hate.

"We can be of use to you," Lomi rasped, her throat crushing in around her voice-box.

"I highly doubt that," Jaina retorted with a cool smirk that showed plenty of teeth. "You're not going to be of much use to anyone dead, Lomi, not even yourself."

"You need us," Lomi gasped out on her knees, her voice growing even fainter as her face began to discolor from lack of oxygen. "We can... help you... defeat the Vong..."

"I don't need anyone," Jaina sneered, applying more pressure.

A furious Welk twitched from head to toe, clearly aching to reach for his own lightsaber, the black hilt visible at his hip, and help his master, but he didn't dare make any move with Kyp's blade close enough to sting the skin on his throat, and the Jedi Master's fingers pressing against his vulnerable nerve.

"Making a... mistake," Lomi pleaded hoarsely, her eyes beginning to bulge slightly, even as she tried futilely to ward off the Force-strangle with her own powers. "We came to... help you..."

"And why," Jaina said mockingly, easing up just a little, so that the woman could gasp in a breath of air, only to squeeze it out of her again a second later when she tightened her grip once more. "Would you want to do a thing like that?"

"Because we want to destroy the kriffing Vong," Welk spat viciously from the wings. "Why else would we be here?"

Without bothering to tear her gaze from Lomi, Jaina raised an eyebrow, and she felt Kyp inch his lightsaber even closer to the younger man's exposed throat, eliciting a stifled hiss of pain as the heat seared the tender skin under Welk's chin.

"We didn't... come as... enemies.." Lomi insisted through ragged gasps.

"You didn't come as enemies?" Jaina echoed incredulously, and gave a bitter laugh. "Did you hear that, Kyp? They didn't come as enemies!"

"So I heard," Kyp replied coolly.

"We're... not... your ene-"

"You killed Raynar," Jaina snarled venomously, forcing the wind out of the woman's throat viscously and shoving her back into the wall so hard that the Nightsister's bones gave an audible crack as the sandstone wall creaked, trying to swallow her as gravity and the unforgiving power of the Force tried to bury her into it.

"He was..." Lomi trailed off, coughing hoarsely, and a drop of blood fell from her nose onto her lips. "In... the way."

"And now you're in my way," Jaina observed with a merciless smile. "Whatever shall I do with you?"

Lomi tried to speak, but the only sound that came out was a pitiful keening that reminded Jaina of a dying bantha, and the woman's eyes fluttered, nearly rolling up into her head. In a matter of seconds, the Nightsister would lose consciousness and stop breathing all together.

Sighing, Jaina loosened her grip, and Lomi doubled over, heaving in desperate gasps of air.

A spark of black fury rose up within Welk, and the urge to attack suddenly became almost a feral instinct.

"Don't," Jaina warned him, without looking his way. "He won't hesitate to kill you."

"And it won't be quick," Kyp added darkly.

From the floor, Lomi looked up at her, still drawing in deep, shuddering breaths, as if aware that she might lose the ability again at any moment, which was all too likely considering Jaina had yet to actually unwrap her invisible hands from the woman's neck.

"We came to join you," Lomi rasped, pausing for breath as her disheveled black hair fell across her face. "To help you fight the Vong."

"What makes you think we need help?" Jaina demanded in dark amusement.

"You may be the granddaughter of Darth Vader," the Nightsister acknowledged. "And you might have the Destroyer of Worlds on your arm." Her dark, glossy eyes flickered briefly to Kyp, full of something akin to both respect and trepidation, then settled on Jaina again. "But you're only two against millions. You need greater numbers if you wish to win this war."

"And you really think four is so much better than two?" Jaina asked with a smirk.

"It will not be four for long," Lomi answered, shaking her head. "Others will come. They will be drawn to you, and they will join you if you let them. You burn like a beacon in the darkness, that is how we found you here. Others will do the same in time."

"Others like you?" Jaina inquired coolly, partly to mask the fact that the Nightsister's words had caused something inside of her to stir, to sit up and take notice.

Kyp knew, though, and she could feel his intense gaze watching her, seeing through her into the core of her being.

_What are you thinking? _he asked through their rapport, but the question wasn't posed with words, so much as feelings, emotions, that didn't need to be translated.

"Many Nightsisters were killed when the Yuuzhan Vong took Dathomir," Lomi responded evenly, rubbing her bruised throat tenderly. "Those who survived had scattered and gone into hiding, but some will find their way to you if given the chance. And there are more like us than just my people, more and more find themselves drawn to the shadows in the face of the abomination that invades our galaxy."

_They don't exist in the Force... they're an abomination._

Words she herself had spoken back on Hapes, what seemed like ages ago, drifted to the surface of Jaina's thoughts now, and Lomi must have sensed the general direction of those thoughts, because the Nightsister smiled with cool calculation.

"If we work together," she said lowly, putting the Force behind her words. "We can wipe them out forever."

Snorting, Jaina shook her head. "Don't try your mind games on me, Lomi," she advised with a smile that was decidedly unkind. "Or you'll find yourself with little mind left at all."

Wordlessly, Lomi inclined her head in acknowledgment.

_Well?_ Jaina sent to Kyp, without taking her eyes off of the Nightsister kneeling in front of her. She didn't need to see his face to look at him, and while Lomi probably suspected that they were carrying on silent, private communication through the Force, there was no need to make it obvious.

_I don't trust them, _was his immediate, and not unexpected, reply.

Jaina didn't trust them, either, but that was beside the point at the moment.

_That's not what I'm asking,_ she told him evenly, making sure that he understood she shared his wariness just the same.

There was silence across their bond for a long moment, and she could feel the whirlwind of thought and calculation taking place in Kyp's mind as clearly as if it was happening in her own, so she merely opened herself deeper to him, letting his thoughts flood over her.

He was hesitant about giving up their privacy, about allowing two people he didn't trust anywhere near her, and his pride said they didn't need anyone else but the two of them.

But there was no denying that numbers made them stronger against the Yuuzhan Vong.

And while neither Lomi nor Welk was anything special, their power was average at best, and they weren't a dramatic asset to the cause, they could certainly help increase how much damage was inflicted upon the Vong.

For the first time since the escape from Myrkr, Jaina thought back on the scene that a disturbed Anakin had relayed to her during the mission after his half of the team rescued the two Dark Jedi from captivity, about how Lomi Plo had used the dark side to create a murderous energy web, which had sliced a Yuuzhan Vong warrior into a thousand tiny, bloody pieces before his eyes.

It was an interesting idea, and one that she might have to consider using in the future.

Messier than Force lightning, but definitely more painful to the victim, and it would frighten any Vong who had happened to witness it and survive to tell the tale.

Still, sometimes nothing could beat an old-fashioned lightsaber kill.

Czulkang Lah's amphistaff, which rested coiled in the corner of the hut, was a testament to that.

The fanged weapon was longer and slimmer than any amphistaff she had ever seen before, presumably a relic from another era of Yuuzhan Vong history, back when Czulkang Lah was in his prime, back before his son had grown up and taken his command away from him. While effective and more than capable of destroying any enemy that crossed its path, the weapon clearly held sentimental value for the old warrior.

In that respect, it wasn't that unlike the trademark blaster her father carried, or the lightsabers her brothers had wielded until their deaths.

She was looking forward to seeing the look on Tsavong Lah's face when he saw her carrying his father's weapon.

And then she was going to kill him with it.

The smirk tugging its way onto her lips at that thought suddenly crested downward into a frown, as the words that the former warmaster had spoken to her just before his death surfaced again in her mind.

_If Yun-Harla exists then so does Yun-Yammka, one cannot exist without the other._

Czulkang Lah had been trying to tell her something, that much she was certain of, but the words, while spoken in Basic as an odd gesture of respect, didn't make any sense to her.

The previous night, his words had been pushed out of her mind by hours of passion with Kyp after returning to Kenobi's hut from the battlefield, but tonight they had troubled her as she lay awake in bed next to Kyp, and they had made her sleep a restless one.

She had dreamed of a distant future where the Yuuzhan Vong had been wiped from the galaxy, where all traces of their existence had been erased, as if they had never been there at all, and it had played out before her eyes as if she were watching a scene from a holovid on the vidscreen, distant and detached.

Her parents had survived, older and wearier, but as strong as always as long as they were together, and her uncle was able to rest for once, enjoying the simplicity of watching his son grow tall with Mara at his side, while the young shaped the galaxy in his stead.

The Jedi had become strong again, and flourished on some world that she didn't recognize, but something inside of her felt that she should, as if she had been there before, lifetimes ago.

And Jacen had been there.

Alive and whole, but with a weight on his shoulders that never lessened, he assumed their uncle's place, solemn and wise enough to guide the reformed Council through the peaceful times ahead.

There had been children, little things with auburn hair and gray eyes, clinging to the legs of a patiently amused Tenel Ka, dressed not in the garb of the Queen Regent of Hapes, or even a princess, but in the simple garments of a Jedi Knight, down to the soft boots and the lightsaber at her hip.

All laughter and smiles, though, had vanished as her presence in their world was sensed.

Silent, apprehensive eyes turned in her direction, whispers that she couldn't make out carrying through the crowd of familiar, and beloved, faces as they stared back at her, and one thing was perfectly clear.

She was not welcome.

This place, this life, was not hers. She did not belong there, with them, in their world of light.

Hers was a place of shadows.

And Jacen of all people had been the one to step forward, and extend a hand, wordlessly banishing her from their domain.

Whatever might have come after that, she would never know, for a sudden and sharp whistle of forewarning had spliced right through her dream, jolting her awake with shocking speed.

It didn't matter, though, because it had only been a dream.

Jacen was dead, just like Anakin, and Jaina would avenge their memories if it was the last thing she ever did.

It probably would be, in the end.

There had been no time to differentiate between dream and reality as she flung herself out of bed, instinctively throwing out her hand and hurling the unseen intruders whose presence had awoken her from slumber into the far wall of the small hut.

She didn't have any conscious recollection of calling to Kyp, but she must have, because he was only a fraction of a second behind her, lightsaber igniting in his hand.

And when the white-purple blade had cast its glow across the figures pinned to the wall by her will, she had forgotten everything except for the blinding rage that surged up inside of her chest at the sight of Lomi and Welk.

_It was just a dream, _Kyp's smooth voice assured her.

Now, Jaina did spare him a glance, only to find him staring at her with deep emerald eyes, and she knew that he had just seen fragments of her dream through her memories, which slid along their rapport unconsciously.

_You're right,_ Jaina replied, although in the most secret corner of her heart, she could not forget the haunting image of her twin brother's dark eyes staring at her as if she was a stranger. Pushing it aside and burying it deep in the shadows of her mind, she shifted gears back to the subject at hand. _I think we should let them stay._

Are you sure? Kyp asked, without skepticism or doubt, just curiosity.

_No,_ Jaina admitted, flashing him a mental smirk. _But I figure if they get in the way, we'll just kill them._

Fair enough, he agreed with a dark chuckle.

Turning her attention back to Lomi, who was still kneeling on the ground, watching them with cool, narrowed eyes, as if trying to hear their unspoken conversation, Jaina gave the Nightsister a cold smile.

"If you stay, you play by my rules or you die," she informed the older woman coolly. "It's that simple. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly," Lomi murmured, touching a hand to her bruised throat.

"And your apprentice?" Kyp asked quietly, his lightsaber still precariously close to cutting open Welk's throat if he so much as twitched a finger wrong.

Lomi glanced over at Welk, and nodded, her eyes boring into the younger man. "He'll do as he's told," she promised lowly. "Or he'll suffer the consequences."

"Good," Jaina said simply. "Because if not, he dies."

There was no need for her to even signal Kyp, he knew even before the thought passed through her mind, and moved his lightsaber away from Welk's throat, shoving the younger man forward to join his master, earning a rather petulant and dark look from the boy, but Kyp just smirked, knowing the kid was no threat.

Scowling, Welk moved to Lomi's side, and the Nightsister merely gave him a look of caution.

"Well, then," Jaina said at last, with a smirk as she folded her arms over her chest. "Welcome to the New Order."


End file.
